The Case for the Abolition of Mental Health Law

2021 ◽  
pp. 53-90
Author(s):  
Kay Wilson
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Independent Living ◽  
International Human Rights Law ◽  
Health Law ◽  
Disability Rights ◽  
Mental Impairment ◽  
Mental Health Law ◽  
Poor Treatment ◽  
History Of ◽  
The Right

Chapter 3 traces the history of opposition to mental health law including anti-psychiatry and the emergence of the disability rights movement explaining where the call for the abolition of mental health law has come from and why it has emerged in international human rights law now. It argues that the call for abolition is more than just a reaction to historically poor treatment, but is a qualitatively different basis for understanding mental impairment. It explains the Abolition with Support model and sets out the key arguments for the abolition of mental health law being that mental health law is a form of social control of non-conformists, that it is discriminatory and a denial of legal capacity, that free and informed consent is integral to the right to health, that it is an unjustified interference with liberty, that it is an unjustified interference with the integrity of the person, that it is a form of torture and cruel, inhuman, and degrading treatment and punishment, that it is inconsistent with the right to independent living, that it is ineffective and un-therapeutic, that there are better non-coercive alternatives, that it undermines the ‘dignity of risk’ of persons with mental impairment, and that mental health law is too ‘easy’ and creates a culture of coercion throughout the entire mental health system. While I ultimately argue against the abolition of mental health law in favour of substantial reform, I argue that it is important to listen to and properly understand abolitionists’ concerns in order to improve mental health law and include persons with mental impairment in the policy-making and health-care decision-making process.

Mental Health Law

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kay Wilson
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Mental Capacity ◽  
Health Law ◽  
Conceptual Basis ◽  
Disability Rights ◽  
Persons With Disabilities ◽  
Mental Health Law ◽  
Abolitionist Movement ◽  
Treaty Interpretation ◽  
The Right

The debate about whether mental health law should be abolished or reformed emerged during the negotiations of the Convention on the Right of Persons with Disabilities (‘CRPD’) and has raged fiercely for over a decade. It has resulted in an impasse between abolitionists, States Parties, and other reformers and a literature which has devolved into ‘camps’. Mental Health Law: Abolish or Reform? aims to cut through the confusion using the tools of human rights treaty interpretation backed by a deep jurisprudential analysis of core CRPD concepts—dignity (including autonomy), equality, and participation—to gain a clearer understanding of the meaning of the CRPD and what it requires States Parties to do. In doing so, it sets out the development of both mental health law and the abolitionist movement including its goals and how and why it has emerged now. By digging deeper into the conceptual basis of the CRPD and developing the ‘interpretive compass’, the book aims to flesh out a broader vision of disability rights and move the debate forward by evaluating the three main current abolition and reform options: Abolition with Support, Mental Capacity with Support, and Support Except Where There is Harm. Drawing on jurisprudential and multi-disciplinary research from philosophy, medicine, sociology, disability studies, and history, it argues that mental health law should not be abolished, but should instead be significantly reformed to minimize coercion and maximize the support and choices given to persons with mental impairments to realize of all of their CRPD rights.

The History, Justification, and Purpose of Mental Health Law

2021 ◽  
pp. 34-52
Author(s):  
Kay Wilson
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Mental Health Problems ◽  
Common Law ◽  
Health Problems ◽  
Systemic Reform ◽  
Health Law ◽  
Mental Health Law ◽  
Incremental Change ◽  
History Of ◽  
The Common

Chapter 2 examines the historical development of mental health law in England (which is similar to the rest of the common law world, including America, Canada, and Australia) and uses that history to consider the justification, purpose, and need for mental health law from Ancient Greece to the present. Contrary to the claims of abolitionists that mental health law has essentially always stayed the same, it demonstrates a history of continuous legal and systemic reform in mental health law. Rather than an over-zealous and interfering state keen to exercise social control over persons with mental impairment, it instead depicts a state which for the most part reluctantly only became involved in the care of persons with mental health problems when informal care by family and friends failed or was non-existent, to prevent abuses by private operators, and as an incident of its administration of the criminal law. When set against the background of the fashions, cycles, and recurring themes of mental health law, the call of abolition can be conceptualized as simply the latest fad in its evolution. Further, many of the issues which arise from mental health problems will continue to exist even without mental health law. Mental health law can be positive and negative, including defining and protecting rights and allocating resources. The chapter cautions against being too optimistic about the promises of sweeping revolutionary changes which have never really delivered (deinstitutionalization or the ‘abolition’ of the asylum being the most poignant example), in favour of solid incremental change.

7. Mental Health Law

Medical Law ◽  
2019 ◽  
pp. 351-419
Author(s):  
Emily Jackson
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Community Treatment ◽  
Health Law ◽  
Persons With Disabilities ◽  
Mental Health Law ◽  
Mental Health Act ◽  
Independent Review ◽  
History Of ◽  
Human Rights Act ◽  
The Uk

All books in this flagship series contain carefully selected substantial extracts from key cases, legislation, and academic debate, providing able students with a stand-alone resource. This chapter discusses mental health law in the UK. It begins with a brief history of mental health law and policy. This is followed by discussions of: admission to the mental health system; treatment of the mentally ill under the Mental Health Act 1983; Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards (DoLS) and Cheshire West, and Community Treatment Orders. It also looks at the implications of the Human Rights Act and the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD) for mental health law. It also considers the conclusions of the Independent Review of the Mental Health Act 1983.

Capacity in mental health law: We are heading in the right direction

2015 ◽  
Vol 49 (9) ◽  
pp. 848-848 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christopher Ryan ◽  
Sascha Callaghan ◽  
Carmelle Peisah
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Health Law ◽  
Mental Health Law ◽  
The Right

scholarly journals Non-consultant psychiatrists' knowledge of emergency detention procedures in Scotland

1997 ◽  
Vol 21 (10) ◽  
pp. 631-635 ◽  
Author(s):  
Martin S. Humphreys
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Civil Liberties ◽  
Systematic Research ◽  
Involuntary Admission ◽  
Health Law ◽  
Mental Health Law ◽  
After Care ◽  
The Uk ◽  
The Right

There is growing concern with psychiatrists' knowledge of mental health law, in particular with the introduction of new legislation and more complex statutory arrangements for after care. Despite this, little systematic research has been undertaken in the UK. This study was designed to determine the knowledge of a sample of doctors in psychiatry in Scotland, of part of the Mental Health (Scotland) Act 1984 which provides for urgent involuntary admission to hospital. A one in three sample of all non-consultant grade psychiatrists throughout Scotland was interviewed on the aspects of the Act considered essential to lawful detention. Knowledge of even this restricted part of the Act was poor regardless of experience. Evidence emerged which suggested that at times civil liberties might be compromised or the right to treatment denied. The findings clearly point to the need for increased emphasis on training in mental health law.

scholarly journals Mental health law in Greece

2014 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 11-12
Author(s):  
A. Douzenis ◽  
C. Tsopelas ◽  
L. Lykouras
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
European Countries ◽  
Health Law ◽  
Psychiatric Admission ◽  
Mental Health Law ◽  
National Legislation ◽  
Civil Responsibility ◽  
The Law ◽  
The Right

Like all European countries, Greece has developed its national legislation based on the principles of equality and the right of representation, but there is no separate, specific mental health law in Greece. This paper describes the law for involuntary psychiatric admission. The law concerning criminal and civil responsibility and the law relating to individuals with addictions committing drug-related crimes are also outlined.

scholarly journals The Human Rights Act and Mental Health Law: Has it Helped?

2014 ◽  
Vol 1 (15) ◽  
pp. 7 ◽  
Author(s):  
Brenda Hale
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Human Rights ◽  
Health Law ◽  
Mental Health Law ◽  
Human Rights Act ◽  
The Right

<p align="LEFT">This article focusses on two questions in relation to the interplay of the Human Rights Act and the Mental Health Law: the right to choose, and the process of compulsion.</p>

scholarly journals Engagement and Participation as a Part of the Mental Welfare Commission for Scotland

2020 ◽  
Vol 2019 (25) ◽  
pp. 167
Author(s):  
Graham Morgan
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Lived Experience ◽  
Professional Role ◽  
Personal Perspective ◽  
Health Law ◽  
Mental Health Law ◽  
History Of ◽  
Degrading Treatment ◽  
The Impact

An account of the work of the engagement and participation officers with lived experience as users and carers in the MWC, showing: the history of user and carer involvement in the Commission, the reason for the employment of the present workers and the creation of the department of engagement and participation. Told from the perspective of lived experience of using services, describing  the development of the roles to date, the activities carried out to date, especially those connected with mental health law, capacity, and the role of the NPM in safeguarding against cruel and degrading treatment and torture, some assessments of the impact of these activities and a presentation of the personal perspective of using lived experience as an integral part of a professional role.

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