Abstract
The Mental Health (Compulsory Assessment and Treatment) Act 1992 (MHA) (NZ) provides the legal criteria governing compulsory psychiatric treatment in New Zealand. This article considers the structure and meaning of the definition of ‘mental disorder’ used in this MHA, and the interpretive strategies adopted by courts and the Mental Health Review Tribunal when applying it in hard cases. The author concludes that the contested meaning of ‘mental disorder’ shows the need to take a dynamic and flexible approach to its interpretation.