Abstract
This article is a comparative study of the law in several jurisdictions concerning involuntary outpatient psychiatric treatment, particularly legislation that governs the use of Community Treatment Orders (CTOs). The author discusses the central legal issues of this area, including the scope of the powers such orders confer on community mental health terms to monitor the patient’s condition and provide treatment without consent. The law in this area is reviewed in Victoria, New South Wales, Switzerland, the United Kingdom and Canada, with a view to assessing the adequacy of NZ’s CTO regime.