Alberta not criminally responsible project. Part 1: Comparing the rates of incoming NCRMD persons and absolute discharges before and after Swain and Winko

Abstract

The Canadian forensic mental health system was transformed following the two landmark Supreme Court of Canada cases of Regina v. Swain (1991) and Winko v. British Columbia (1999). The Swain decision led to the creation of a new forensic mental health system that moved towards balancing the needs of the patient with the safety of the public. The Winko decision ruled that review boards had to release all persons who did not pose a significant threat to the safety of the public, even persons whose threat level was uncertain. In this article, the authors conducted 20-year pre-post analyses for incoming not criminally responsible persons following the Swain decision and absolute discharges following Winko. The results indicated that there was a statistically significant increase of new/incoming NCRMD cases post-Swain and a statistically significant increase of absolute discharges post-Winko.