NARPA 2020 Webinar series

“Mental Health Courts and Specialized Courts in Canada: Access to Justice from the Perspective of People with Psychiatric Histories”

In lieu of a face-to face conference in 2020, NARPA is offering a series of webinars related to current events. All webinars are free.

NARPA's final webinar of 2020, entitled “Mental Health Courts and Specialized Courts in Canada: Access to Justice from the Perspective of People with Psychiatric Histories,” took place on December 10. It will be available for streaming on NARPA's YouTube channel very soon. Check here for the link. The webinars are free.

Description of Presentation: Attorney and researcher, Ruby Dhand notes to date there appears to be no significant study critiquing mental health courts in Canada vis-à-vis access to justice for people with psychiatric histories. In this presentation, Dr. Dhand will draw from 100 in-depth interviews with key stakeholders involved with mental health courts and specialized courts across Canada to critique the extent to which mental health courts and specialized courts in that country increase access to justice for people with psychiatric histories. Through a comparative critique of mental health courts in the United States and Canada, this presentation will further analyze the extent to which these courts address race, culture, and other intersecting equity issues and appropriately implement the principles of therapeutic jurisprudence, while putting forth recommendations to improve them.

Presenter: Ruby Dhand, B.A., M.A., LL.B., LL.M., Ph.D., is an Associate Professor of Law on the faculty at Thompson Rivers University in Canada. She has worked as a human rights attorney, specializing in disability law and mental health law, and been on the litigation team for major cases at the Supreme Court of Canada and Federal Court of Canada. As a researcher she has authored a number of articles in professional publications. Her major areas of research are mental health law (civil and forensic), human rights law, health law and policy, and the impact of race, culture, ethnicity and other intersectional factors upon the law, among other areas.

Check our website at www.narpa.org and the NARPA Facebook group page for details about NARPA's webinar series and for details about how to access the video of this as well as previous webinars.

Also check the NARPA website at www.narpa.org and the NARPA Facebook group page for updates. Stay tuned for announcements about NARPA's plans for 2021!

Click here for a PDF of this announcement.