Ms Catherine Ghent:

We had these concerns in a case where children were being placed in a psychiatric hospital abroad. When we asked what happened to the usual rights they would have if detained under mental health legislation here, namely, access to a tribunal and having the decisions reconsidered, we were informed that the institution abroad could dispense with them. We raised serious concerns about this, which resulted in our advocating on the child's behalf for a reference to be sent to the European Court of Justice. That had not been done and both the Attorney General and the Child and Family Agency opposed it. Through that reference, the European Court of Justice set down certain conditions which had to be fulfilled. The system is not perfect. The issues that have emerged in the case of St. Andrew's have caused huge concern, but we would have even less regulation if we had not insisted on reference to the European Court of Justice which indicated that the concerns we had raised were also concerns for it.