The law and mental handicap: 2. The Mental Health Act, 1983 - guardianship and hospitalisation

2009 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 8-11 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mike J. Gunn
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Mental Handicap ◽  
Mental Health Act ◽  
The Law

scholarly journals Rise in the use of section 136 of the Mental Health Act 1983 in England and Wales: A viewpoint on Loughran (2018)

2019 ◽  
Vol 60 (2) ◽  
pp. 140-146 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mark Cresswell
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Recent Work ◽  
Theoretical Perspective ◽  
Causal Analysis ◽  
England And Wales ◽  
Mental Health Act ◽  
The Law

This article provides a critical viewpoint on Loughran’s recent work in Medicine, Science and the Law on the causes of the rise in the police’s use of section 136 (s136) of the Mental Health Act 1983 (Loughran M. Detention under section 136: why is it increasing? Med Sci Law 2018; 58: 268–274). The rate of this rise seems significant: by 2014, it was five times more likely that a person in England would be detained in a hospital under s136 than it was in 2000, and the trend has continued to the present day. This viewpoint considers the significance of the s136 rise from the theoretical perspective of causal analysis.

scholarly journals Response of the Mental Health Act Commission

1993 ◽  
Vol 17 (8) ◽  
pp. 483-483
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Mental Health Act ◽  
The Law ◽  
Consultation Paper ◽  
Law Commission

The Commission welcomes the opportunity to comment on Dr Oyebode's paper. As a former medical member of the Commission, Dr Oyebode can write with authority on the frustrations felt by many Commissioners when carrying out their statutory obligations to ensure that the requirements of Section 58 of the Act are being met. His paper is particularly opportune considering the recent publication by the Law Commission of its consultation paper No. 129 (Law Commission, 1993).

scholarly journals Misapplication of mental impairment under the Mental Health Act 1983

2006 ◽  
Vol 30 (2) ◽  
pp. 69-70
Author(s):  
Anjum Bashir ◽  
Sheila Tinto
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Public Policy ◽  
Human Rights ◽  
Royal College ◽  
Mental Impairment ◽  
Health And Human Rights ◽  
Mental Health Act ◽  
The Law

As Professor Eastman (2000) has noted: the law is fond of ‘using’ psychiatry for its own ends at times, but the Mental Health Act 1983 is an example of psychiatrists using the law as a tool of public policy. This makes their education in and interpretation of it all the more vital. The MRCPsych part II module ‘Ethics and the Law’ requires candidates to demonstrate knowledge of relevant mental health and human rights legislation, and to illustrate the appropriate application of such information (Royal College of Psychiatrists, 2001). We submit a masked case study that in practice seems to us a misinterpretation of the Act.

scholarly journals The common law defence of automatism: a quagmire for the psychiatrist

2015 ◽  
Vol 21 (4) ◽  
pp. 242-250 ◽  
Author(s):  
Keith J. B. Rix
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Psychiatric Disorder ◽  
Psychotropic Drugs ◽  
Common Law ◽  
Burden Of Proof ◽  
Standard Of Proof ◽  
Mental Health Act ◽  
The Common ◽  
The Law

SummaryThis article sets out the complicated and confused law on automatism and identifies the role of the psychiatrist, including paradoxically a role in cases of non-psychiatric disorder where the law requires evidence from a doctor approved under section 12 of the Mental Health Act. Legal definitions of automatism are introduced. The internal/external distinction, evidential burden, burden of proof, standard of proof, prior fault, intoxication and the degree of impairment illustrate how the courts limit the defence. Detailed accounts are given of cases in which the defence of automatism has been based on psychiatric disorder and on the effects of psychotropic drugs. Suggestions are made for approaches to assessment and medicolegal reporting.

scholarly journals Theresa May Wants to Stop ‘Unnecessary Detentions’ with New Mental Health Act

2018 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Elizabeth Maitland
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Fair Trial ◽  
Human Right ◽  
Mental Health Act ◽  
Assistance Dogs ◽  
Independent Review ◽  
The Law ◽  
The Moment ◽  
Danger To Others ◽  
Theresa May

At RECOVERY Assistance Dogs we filled in an Independent Review of the 2007 Mental Health Act by February 28, 2018. The review was about when a person can be admitted, detained, and treated in hospital without their agreement. We made our point that people should have the Human Right to a Fair Trial before they can be locked up against their will. The Law says that only people who are a danger to others or themselves should be detained involuntarily. Yet at the moment people are have to submit to ‘unnecessary detentions’ for being ‘high’, unable to answer the question correctly or other reasons that a Court of Law would dismiss

scholarly journals The Law Society’s Response to the Draft Mental Health Bill

2014 ◽  
Vol 1 (12) ◽  
pp. 70
Author(s):  
Law Society
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Human Rights ◽  
Mental Disorder ◽  
Mental Health Act ◽  
Human Rights Act ◽  
Human Rights Act 1998 ◽  
The Law

<p>The Law Society has long campaigned for reform of the Mental Health Act 1983 (‘the 1983 Act’), which is widely recognised as out of date and not fully compatible with the Human Rights Act 1998. However the Law Society believes that the proposals contained in the Draft Mental Health Bill 2004 (‘the Bill’) are misconceived and fail to provide adequate safeguards to protect the rights of people with a mental disorder.</p>

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