Inquiry as to state of person’s mind

(1) The magistrate of the judicial district in which a person believed to be of unsound mind is residing shall, on the oath of an informant who states that he has good cause to believe that that person is of unsound mind and a proper subject for confinement, examine the person in a convenient place and, in the same or some other place, hold an inquiry into the state of mind of that person. (2) The magistrate shall have and exercise in respect of all matters arising in any such inquiry (including the enforcement of the attendance of witnesses and taking their evidence, the conduct of the proceedings and the making of the order) all the powers and authorities which a magistrate has and exercises under the Summary Jurisdiction Acts in respect of the corresponding matters arising under those Acts. (3) The magistrate may, if he thinks fit, conduct the inquiry in the absence of the person believed to be of unsound mind, but in any such case he shall transmit the proceedings together with a copy of the order of commitment to the Chief Justice who may make such order thereon for securing a proper investigation into the mental condition of that person as he may think fit.