Dignity and Mental Health in Jails Act, 2025

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The Bill amends the Correctional Services and Reintegration Act, 2018 and the Ministry of Correctional Services Act with respect to the humane treatment of inmates and ending solitary confinement. Currently, the Ministry of Correctional Services Act governs correctional institutions in Ontario. However, the Correctional Services and Reintegration Act, 2018 would, if brought into force, enact new provisions governing correctional institutions. Both Acts are amended by the Bill to account for the possibility of either of them being in force. The Bill requires new and renovated or expanded correctional institutions to have at least 20 percent of inmate beds be in a mental health support unit. The Bill also prohibits any cruel, inhumane or degrading treatment or punishment. It prohibits holding an inmate under overly rigorous physical constraints or surveillance. It prohibits sensory deprivation or disorientation and punishments that withdraw things necessary for good health. It requires the superintendent to ensure the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms is complied with. Violation of these rules is an offence. Finally, the Bill prohibits the practice of segregation, which is any type of custody where an inmate is highly restricted in movement and association with others for 22 hours or more a day. It requires an Independent Review Panel to review cases of inmates held in restrictive confinement, which is a form of custody where inmates are highly restricted in movement and association but in a manner that is not sufficient to meet the definition of segregation.

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