"How are things?" he asked with a smile.

Not your typical judicial query. But the Ottawa Mental Health Court is designed to be different, a place where cases involving individuals with manic depression, severe anxiety, schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, and dementia are heard in a less formal setting.

The new criminal court began running in October, but has an official opening today. It's designed as a collaborative program between judges, the Crown, and defence lawyers within the Ontario Court of Justice, sitting three times a week.

Experts believe the program, which already exists in Toronto, is a step forward for Ottawa's justice system. They say such a court can help defendants get easier and faster access to medical treatment, and better determines their capacity for criminal behaviour or facing trial.

Accused persons are sent to the court for mental fitness and criminal responsibility assessments, guilty pleas, and sentencing hearings. Murder, impaired driving, sexual assault, and other serious crimes are not eligible for alternative punishment or specialized treatment and supervision. But alternatives to jail time can be offered for less serious crimes such as theft, shoplifting, property damage, and minor assaults.

But the more collegial atmosphere shouldn't be mistaken for laissez-faire attitudes toward crime and punishment, according to Susan Morris, a legal aid duty counsel in Ottawa.

"People may think (these courts) are all about coddling offenders and are antithetical to public safety," she said. "I think what's antithetical is putting someone in jail for a short period of time and not addressing their problems."

A central rationale for "problem-solving courts" is reducing the rate of recidivism.

"We're trying to put a doorstop on the revolving door that's existed," said Kevin Phillips, the assistant Crown attorney with responsibility for the new court. "The whole goal of the court is to more efficiently and quickly hook them up with the support they need."

As well, the process is meant to streamline the array of adjournments, arraignments, and preliminary hearings that often confuse mentally ill defendants.

"We're not necessarily trying to excuse behaviour or change standards, but it's making sure people are connected to the right assistance," said Dr. Helen Ward, a Royal Ottawa Mental Health Centre forensic psychiatrist who often provides assessments for the court.

Along with the Crown attorney's office and Legal Aid Ontario, a number of bodies are contributing personnel and resources to the court.

They include three judges, Dr. Ward and other medical experts who provide assessments at the courthouse before hearings to determine mental capacity and criminal responsibility.

Meanwhile, case workers from the Canadian Mental Health Association attend court and help the accused make a "release plan" while in the community. This includes housing help, addiction treatment, or something as simple as providing appropriate clothes and shoes for court appearances.

"Normally, people would get bounced back and forth and not into treatment fast enough," said Marion Wright, executive director of the mental health association's Ottawa branch. "This is a large step forward."

Families of the accused will also be given greater input.

"I don't want to sound schmaltzy, but it does, being a team approach to a usually adversarial situation," said Kevin Murphy, an Ottawa defence lawyer who often handles cases involving mental illness. "I think this pins down the Crown to recognizing that they can't be dealt with in the same way."

He and his colleagues believe the court is long overdue, given the need to recognize that among certain people, mental illness is the only factor causing their criminal behaviour.

"The clients I've had have already benefited," Ms. Morris said. "These sorts of people have (usually) just been coming back and coming back and coming back."

On Friday, Justice Peter Griffiths told a man accused of masturbating inside the Carleton University library his chronic paranoid schizophrenia means he's not criminally responsible.

He ordered him to undergo further assessments at the Royal Ottawa and a housing review.

The man then asked if, first, he could pull into Tim Hortons and catch up with his father, who was sitting directly behind the prisoner's box.

Judge Griffiths didn't see the harm in a coffee break.

"A new page, a fresh start, new relationships, exciting times," he told the man. "Good luck."