SENEDD members began a two-day debate on an emergency law to keep the mental health tribunal system working in Wales tomorrow.

The Mental Health Review Tribunal for Wales (MHRTW) reviews cases where patients have been sectioned under the Mental Health Act and has to do so within seven days.

Without the new law, Consul General Julie James warned the Senedd that the MHRTW would miss its legal targets for hearings.

Ms James explained that medical members of the Mental Health tribunal who are registered with the General Medical Council, but who no longer have a licence to practise cannot continue to sit on cases.

The president of MHRTW, Jane McConnell, recently decided to stop members without a current licence to practise from sitting on cases.

The tribunal had 43 medical members in 2024-25, but that number drops to just 19 after Ms McConnell’s decision.

“This puts the tribunal’s ability to meet its statutory timeframes for hearings at considerable risk,” Ms James said.