Montreal – Nearly 50,000 Quebecers may have been victims of preventive guards who have been illegally extended and may benefit from compensation in the context of collective action.
The preventive guard is considered to be the first step in the application of the law on the protection of persons whose mental state presents a danger for themselves or for others, also known as the law P-38.
“This is the stage which allows a hospital center to keep a person under his custody against his will, without having to pass a judge to bypass the consent of the person,” said Nancy Melanson, spokesperson for the Association of Intervention Groups in Defense of Mental Health of Quebec (AGIDD-SMQ).
Such a guard may in particular be imposed on a person who is in crisis due to a mental state that could be disrupted, or even a person in drunkenness or advanced drug consumption.
If the hospital center wishes to keep a person beyond a period of 72 hours, it is however necessary to contact a judge in order to obtain authorization.
According to Ms. Melanson, rights defense groups, however, noted that it was “common” that the deadline was extended without going through a court, which makes custody illegal.
In Quebec, more than 130,000 preventive guards were listed from 2015 to 2024. Of this total, it is estimated that 50,000 guards have been illegally extended.
“The collective action aims at anyone who would have been in an illegal preventive guard situation beyond 72 hours to obtain compensation,” said Melanson.
The collective action thus provides $ 1,000 of compensation per day of illegal childcare, in addition to a certain amount of money for regional groups who help people who wish to participate.
On June 1, 450 registrations were made for the collective action which was launched a few months ago.
The persons concerned have until August 11 to submit a request and can go to the following site to find out more: https://www.agidd.org/recourscollectif/
