Rights and recourses of people placed under confinement

In accordance with your rights and recourses while under confinement, you may:

  • Obtain information about where you are being confined, the reasons and your right to immediately contact your family and a lawyer.
  • Require the institution to give you the information document on the Rights and Recourses of Persons Placed Under Confinement when you are placed under confinement and after each psychiatric examination report.
  • Obtain all relevant and necessary information to enable you to make an informed decision about the care and services available to you.
  • Refuse any examination, care or treatment. The institution and the doctor must respect your decision, except in the case of emergency or hygiene care or in the case of psychiatric and other examinations and treatments ordered by a judge.
  • Communicate confidentially, verbally or in writing, with any person of your choice. Your doctor may, however, decide, in your interest, to temporarily prohibit you from communicating with certain people or restrict your communications. The doctor’s decision must be justified in writing and given to you after it has been entered in your record.
    The doctor may not, however, prevent you from communicating with your representative, the person authorized to give consent to your care, a lawyer, the Public Curator of Québec or the Tribunal administratif du Québec. No one may read the written communications that you send or receive from these people or bodies.
  • Be released from confinement immediately if you have not undergone a psychiatric examination to confirm the necessity for your continued confinement within 21 days of the Court decision and every 3 months thereafter.
  • Ask to be transferred to another institution if the organization and resources of that institution permit such a transfer. The doctor may, however, want to transfer you to another institution that he believes is better able to meet your needs.

    The doctor must obtain your consent before transferring you, unless the transfer is necessary to ensure your safety or that of other people. The doctor’s decision must be justified in writing and given to you after it has been entered in your record.

    A transfer may not take place unless the doctor attests, by means of a certificate, containing reasons for the transfer, that, in his or her opinion, the transfer does not present any serious and immediate risks for you or for other people.

If you are not satisfied

If you are not satisfied with your confinement or if you disagree with a decision taken in the context of your confinement, you may file a motion with the Tribunal administratif du Québec. This motion, submitted by you or a family member or friend, your tutor, curator or mandatary, must explain as clearly as possible the reasons why you are dissatisfied or why you disagree.

There are 3 ways to file a motion:

  • Complete the online form “Motion to Institute a Proceeding” on the Tribunal administratif du Québec This hyperlink will open in a new window. website.
  • Write a letter to the Tribunal administratif du Québec explaining the reasons for the motion.
  • Complete the paper form “Motion to Institute a Proceeding”, which you can obtain from an office of the Secrétariat of the Tribunal administratif du Québec or from a Court of Québec office – Small Claims Division in one of Québec’s courthouses. To obtain the contact information for the Small Claims Division offices, go to the Find a courthouse This hyperlink will open in a new window. page on the Ministère de la Justice website.

Make sure you file your motion within the prescribed time limit by filing it in person or by mailing or faxing it to the Secrétariat of the Tribunal administratif du Québec:

Tribunal administratif du Québec

Time limit for filing a motion

The time limit for filing a motion varies depending on the type of decision that is being contested.

A person who is contesting their confinement may file a motion at any time during the period of confinement ordered by the Court.

A person who is contesting a decision made in the context of their confinement must file their motion with the Tribunal administratif du Québec within 60 days of the decision. If the motion is filed late, the Tribunal may decide to hear the motion if it is satisfied with the reasons given for the late filing. Before rendering a decision, the Tribunal will call the person to a meeting during which witnesses may be questioned. The person has the right to be represented by a lawyer.

Complaints

Anyone who is not satisfied with the quality of the service or the time taken by the Tribunal administratif du Québec to address their motion may file a complaint with the Ombudsman: