The role and powers of forensic psychiatric Review Boards in Canada: recent developments.

The principal reform accomplished by Part XX.1 was the creation of a system of forensic Review Boards in each province. The Boards assumed the role previously played by provincial Cabinets in determining the custodial status of forensic patients. Part XX.1 established the Review Boards as quasi-judicial tribunals which would afford all parties, including the accused, a full panoply of procedural justice rights. The Review Boards overnight became significant players in the lives of forensic patients, and in the professional lives of treatment personnel charged with providing therapeutic services to patients. This represented a quiet revolution in this relatively discreet, yet important world where criminal justice and mental health services meet.