A court has ruled being held in jail rather than hospital does not violate the rights of Canadians such as Veronica Germaine, who was found not criminally responsible for her crimes. (Ian Stewart/Yukon News)

The Yukon Court of Appeal says using a prison as a hospital for the mentally ill does not infringe on a person's human rights under the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

The court ruled Thursday that keeping Veronica Germaine in a Whitehorse jail for almost three years did not contravene the charter or the Criminal Code, which says Canadians found not criminally responsible shouldn't be sent to prison since they require treatment not punishment.

Germaine was found not criminally responsible due to mental illness for a series of knifepoint assaults and arson in 2006.

In a written judgment for the three-member panel, Appeal Court Justice Risa Levine ruled that keeping a mentally ill person in prison is not ideal but in the Yukon there was no better alternative for Germaine. She remained under the care of the Yukon Review Panel while in the jail and was receiving treatment for her illness.

"There is no question that [Whitehorse Correctional Centre] is not the ideal place for the appellant, or for any person suffering a mental disorder," the judge said. "But there is no evidence that there is any other place in Canada that offers the ideal setting for the appellant in her particular circumstances, or that a conditional discharge into the community with the required supervision would meet the needs of the public and the appellant."

There are no secure facilities to house mental health patients in the Yukon and that forced the Yukon government to officially designate the Whitehorse jail as a hospital.

So when Germaine was found not criminally responsible due to mental illness, Yukon authorities sent her to the jail — a practice that has been condemned over the years by almost every judge in the territory.

Whitehorse Lawyer David Christie argued on Germaine's behalf that sending someone who is not criminally responsible to a prison setting was a human rights violation and that it also violated United Nations standards endorsed by the federal government.

The appellate court disagreed: "In my opinion, the order [to place Germaine in the jail] was not a miscarriage of justice and did not infringe on the appellant’s rights under the charter," Levine wrote.

Germaine's relatives argued she should stay in the territory and psychiatric beds either were unavailable elsewhere or inappropriate, the court noted. A medical plan was in place for her in the jail and she required a secure facility since the Yukon Review Board considered her a risk to the public.

Yukon government lawyer Leslie McCullough acknowledged that jail is not the proper environment for most people found not criminally responsible for their crimes due to mental illness.

"The court isn't saying it would necessarily be appropriate in every case, but in this case with specific facts and considerations they had to take into account it was an appropriate designation."

Germaine was released from jail in February after almost three years behind bars.