Consider the following scenario. After serving his full 10-year sentence, a sex offender who refused all rehabilitative treatment is released. The Correctional Service of Canada held the offender as long as legally possible, but he is now completely free to move about as he pleases and the chances are good that he will reoffend. Apart from practical considerations that make mandatory offender treatment of questionable value, there are significant legal impediments to mandatory treatment of any kind for any person, including sex offenders. However, the legislation does not seem to suggest that incarceration removes an individual's basic right to refuse unwanted treatment.
Offenders still have the right to self-determination.
An inmate has the right to refuse or withdraw from treatment at any time. However, this is consistent with provincial standards for the administration of treatment to persons unable to give informed consent. There are specific provincial legislative provisions that outline the circumstances where treatment may be administered, without consent, to an individual who lacks the mental capacity to consent. The Service's regional psychiatric hospitals are governed by the applicable provincial mental health act and are, therefore, able to treat offenders who are not mentally capable of giving informed consent. An individual's right to refuse medical treatment With the exception of treatment of mentally incompetent persons and those with communicable diseases, any medical treatment administered without the consent of the recipient is battery.