Premier Dennis Fentie disagrees with a judge's ruling on a case of a mentally ill man being kept in segregation at the Whitehorse jail.

The premier was asked this morning about the Department of Justice's handling of the man's case earlier this year.

'I'm telling you point-blank, the Yukon government did nothing wrong,' Fentie said about the department's handling of Steven Rathburn's case.

That's contrary to the assessment made by territorial judge Heino Lilles.

In a ruling on Rathburn's case made in April, Lilles took the department to task for putting the man into the Whitehorse Correctional Centre and its segregation cell known as 'the hole' while he was awaiting a psychiatric evaluation.

A person who is awaiting a mental health assessment must be put in a designated hospital. According to Yukon law, the jail is designated a hospital for these purposes.

'It is important to note that the impropriety of using the Whitehorse Correctional Centre as a hospital was identified four years ago by the supreme court of this territory,' wrote Lilles. 'It appears that nothing has been done since that time to remedy the situation.

'The kindest explanation for this inaction would be that the Justice department officials were asleep on their watch and did not read the (previous) decision. Unlikely.

'Another explanation would be that they were aware of it, and with total indifference to the court and Parliament and the plight of the mentally ill and handicapped, chose to do nothing about it.'

Regardless of whether it was intentional, Lilles clearly indicates he felt the government made a mistake in putting this man in the hole.

But that's not how Fentie sees it.

The premier said it's up to the courts to decide whether someone like Rathburn goes to Whitehorse General Hospital or the jail to await his assessment when he's been criminally charged.

However, since the jail is designated a hospital for these purposes, if there are no resources available to put someone in Whitehorse General, they are likely put into the jail.

The segregation cell is designated as the room in the jail for those awaiting psychiatric assessment because of cameras' presence and the fact it's difficult for people to injure themselves there.

'It is self-evident that the hole' in the Whitehorse Correctional Centre, normally used to punish inmates, is not and cannot be a hospital room'.'

Lilles goes on to say the government should not have designated the jail as a hospital for this case.

It was pointed out to Fentie that experts from Outside have looked at this case and said it's against normal, international standards.

The premier replied if these people looked closer at the case, they probably wouldn't say that.

In his decision, Lilles said: 'The treatment of Mr. Rathburn by the Yukon correctional authorities by placing him in ... the hole' for an extended period of time while on consent remand, represents a gross violation of international norms. The psychiatric assessment indicates that his continued placement in (the cell) would likely exacerbate his medical condition.'

Fentie discussed this situation when he was explaining why Justice Minister Elaine Taylor did not speak to the public about the Justice department's use of the hole.

The premier said she didn't talk because by then, Rathburn's case was under the Department of Health and Social Services' jurisdiction, even though the questions were about the Justice department's policy.

Rathburn had been involved in a domestic violence incident in March near the North Klondike Highway-Takhini Hot Springs Road intersection.