20 Duration of authority

[Duration of authority and discharge]

20  Duration of authority

(1)     Subject to the following provisions of this Part of this Act, a patient admitted to hospital in pursuance of an application for admission for treatment, and a patient placed under guardianship in pursuance of a guardianship application, may be detained in a hospital or kept under guardianship for a period not exceeding six months beginning with the day on which he was so admitted, or the day on which the guardianship application was accepted, as the case may be, but shall not be so detained or kept for any longer period unless the authority for his detention or guardianship is renewed under this section.

(2)     Authority for the detention or guardianship of a patient may, unless the patient has previously been discharged [under section 23 below], be renewed—

(a)     from the expiration of the period referred to in subsection (1) above, for a further period of six months;

(b)     from the expiration of any period of renewal under paragraph (a) above, for

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