It aims to ensure the patient's best interest is the most important aspect of mental health.
Under the act, mental health workers are obliged to ensure the patient is treated in a way that respects their rights.
The Act provides for the involuntary civil admission of patients on grounds of mental disorder.
It established three-person (a consultant psychiatrist, a legal chair and a lay member) Mental Health Tribunals which review the detention of patients on a regular basis.
A Revised Act, with amendments incorporated, is available on the Law Reform Commission site.