The 2023 Annotated Mental Disorder Provisions of the Criminal Code, Part XX.1 is an excerpt from the recently published Annotated Ontario Mental Health Statutes, 5th edition (Irwin Law, 2022). This text provides legal and mental health practitioners with an easy-to-use annotation of Part XX.1 of the Criminal Code. This portable book focuses exclusively upon the Mental Disorder provisions of the Criminal Code and will be produced annually with updates to the legislation and caselaw as and when they occur.

In addition, this book provides an overview of practical matters, tactical matters, relevant caselaw, and legislation dealing specifically with the matters of Fitness to Stand Trial and Criminal Responsibility. The Rules of Procedure of the Ontario Review Board are included, as are all of the relevant Forms dealing with Orders that may be made within Part XX.1 of the Criminal Code.

This conveniently formatted text places the updated caselaw annotations and commentary adjacent to the legislative provisions to which they relate, following the logical organization of the statutes.

The Honourable Mr. Justice Richard D. Schneider, BSc, MA, PhD, LLB, LLM, CPsych, is a Justice of the Ontario Court of Justice, Deputy Judge of the Territorial Court of Yukon, Chair of the Ontario Review Board, and Alternate Chair of the Nunavut Review Board. He was previously a criminal defence lawyer and certified clinical psychologist. He was counsel to the Ontario Review Board from 1994 to 2000 and was certified by the Law Society of Upper Canada as a specialist in criminal litigation. Justice Schneider is also an Adjunct Professor, Department of Psychiatry, Faculty of Medicine and Faculty of Law at the University of Toronto; a “Specially Appointed Researcher” at the China University of Political Science and Law Criminal Psychology Research Centre. He was named Honorary President of the Canadian Psychological Association in 2002. Justice Schneider’s private practice was generally limited to the representation of mentally disordered accused, and a great deal of his time has been spent presiding at the Mental Health Court in Toronto. His major research interests are competency and criminal responsibility, and he has published extensively in the area of mental disorder and the law. Recent books include Mental Health Courts: Decriminalizing the Mentally Ill (2007, with H. Bloom & M. Heerema); Annotated Ontario Mental Health Statutes, 4th ed (2007); The Lunatic and the Lords (2009); Law and Mental Disorder: A Comprehensive and Practical Approach (2013, with H. Bloom); Mental Disorder and the Law: A Primer for Legal and Mental Health Professionals, 2d ed (2017, with H. Bloom); Fitness to Stand Trial: Fairness First and Foremost (2018, with H. Bloom); and The Death of a Butterfly: Mental Health Court Diaries (2019) (all published by Irwin Law/Delve Books).

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Caitlin Pakosh is an assistant Crown attorney in Newmarket and an assistant professor at the University of Toronto Mississauga (UTM) forensic science program, with experience researching and writing about the intersection between the forensic sciences and criminal law, most notably in her award-winning book, The Lawyer’s Guide to the Forensic Sciences (Irwin Law, 2016). She is also co-author of The Annotated Ontario Mental Health Statutes, 5th ed (Irwin Law, 2022), and The 2023 Annotated Mental Health Provisions of the Criminal Code: Part XX.1 (Irwin Law, 2023), the latter of which will be updated annually. In her role as an assistant Crown attorney, Caitlin prosecutes a variety of offences and has a range of experience in adult and youth matters, including with respect to bail hearings/reviews, guilty pleas, trials, sentencing hearings, and Charter applications.

Prior to joining the Ministry of the Attorney General, Caitlin spent six years as a criminal defence lawyer, opening an appellate practice after working for several years at Innocence Canada (formerly AIDWYC) as its case management counsel, then as its senior staff lawyer. At Innocence Canada, Caitlin worked exclusively on homicide cases from across Canada, provided advice to the organization’s team of volunteer lawyers, and helped to organize new forensic expert opinions and private investigations.



Caitlin has appeared at the Ontario Court of Justice, the Ontario Superior Court of Justice, and the Court of Appeal for Ontario. She has co-authored Federal Ministerial Review Applications and worked on cases that have been heard at the Supreme Court of Canada. Caitlin was called to the Bar in Ontario in June 2012 after receiving her law degree from the University of Calgary in 2011. She graduated from UTM’s Forensic Science program in 2008, specializing in forensic anthropology with a minor in biology.

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Lora Patton is a Toronto lawyer, teacher, and researcher. Having worked in mental health for over a decade, Ms. Patton has previously worked as counsel in the legal aid clinic system, staff lawyer and lecturer in legal education, and as counsel to the Director of the Psychiatric Patient Advocate Office. Published in national and international textbooks, peer-reviewed journals, and independently funded research, Ms. Patton has written in the areas of health law, disability, and access to justice and social justice.  

She has taught courses in mental health law, health law and health, and human rights and globalization at York University’s School of Health Policy and Management and Osgoode Hall Law School, more recently in Professional LLM. Ms. Patton has been a lawyer member of the Consent and Capacity Board since 2009 and a Vice Chair since 2013. 

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