Lunacy Act 1890

Lunacy Act 1890

A UK Parliamentary Act which repealed the Lunacy Act 1845 and County Asylums Act 1845, introducing “reception orders” authorising mandatory detention of a person in (mental health) asylums made by a special judge, which lasted one year; the orders were readily renewed at regular intervals by submitting medical reports to the Lunacy Commission.
The Act underwent legislative changes following the Mental Deficiency Act 1913 (which increased the powers of the Lunacy Commission, renamed the Board of Control), the Mental Treatment Act 1930 and National Health Service Act 1946, and was finally repealed following World War II by the Mental Health Act 1959.