Human rights implications of introducing a new mental health act – principles, challenges and opportunities

2020 ◽  
Vol 28 (2) ◽  
pp. 167-170 ◽  
Author(s):  
Neeraj S Gill ◽  
John A Allan ◽  
Belinda Clark ◽  
Alan Rosen
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Human Rights ◽  
Persons With Disabilities ◽  
Mental Health Act ◽  
Mental Health Legislation ◽  
Positive Rights ◽  
Challenges And Opportunities ◽  
Human Rights Act ◽  
Health Legislation ◽  
Made In

Objective: The United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD), 2006 has influenced the evolution of mental health legislation to protect and promote human rights of individuals with mental illness. This review introduces how the human rights agenda can be systematised into mental health services. Exploration is made of how some principles of CRPD have been incorporated into Queensland’s Mental Health Act 2016. Conclusion: Although progress has been made in some areas, e.g. heavier reliance on capacity assessment and new supported decision-making mechanisms, MHA 2016 has continued to focus on involuntary treatment. A Human Rights Act 2019 has been passed by the Queensland parliament, which may fill in the gap by strengthening positive rights.

scholarly journals Mental health legislation in Botswana

2018 ◽  
Vol 16 (03) ◽  
pp. 68-70
Author(s):  
J. Maphisa Maphisa
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Human Rights ◽  
Mental Disorders ◽  
United Nations ◽  
Persons With Disabilities ◽  
Mental Health Legislation ◽  
United Nations Convention ◽  
The United Nations ◽  
Health Legislation

The Mental Disorders Act of 1969 is the primary legislation relating to mental health in Botswana. Despite the country not being a signatory to the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, its Act has a self-rated score of four out of five on compliance to human rights covenants. However, it can be argued that the Act does not adequately espouse a human rights- and patient-centred approach to legislation. It is hoped that ongoing efforts to revise the Act will address the limitations discussed in this article.

scholarly journals Reform of the Mental Health Act 1983 – Convention Implications of the Green Paper

2014 ◽  
pp. 99
Author(s):  
Paul Bowen
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Human Rights ◽  
Green Paper ◽  
Mental Health Act ◽  
Human Rights Act ◽  
Human Rights Act 1998 ◽  
The Government ◽  
The Impact ◽  
The Devil ◽  
Made In

Assessing the Convention compatibility of the Government proposals for reform of the Mental Health Act 1983 set out in the Green Paper1 is largely an exercise in speculation, for three reasons.First, the proposals are very broad; the detail, where the devil may be found, is yet to come.Second, the Convention does not permit the Strasbourg authorities to review the legality of national legislation in the abstract, but only with reference to particular cases after the proceedings are complete2. Although that will not necessarily preclude a domestic court from reviewing the lawfulness of any provision of the new Mental Health Act after incorporation of the Human Rights Act 19983, the comments that can be made in this article are necessarily confined to the<br />general rather than the specific.Third, and perhaps most significantly, it is impossible to predict the impact of the Convention following the coming into force of the Human Rights Act 1998 on 2 October 2000.

scholarly journals Australia's mental health legislation

2013 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 38-40
Author(s):  
Kenneth C. Kirkby ◽  
Scott Henderson
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Human Rights ◽  
Health Law ◽  
International Treaty ◽  
Mental Health Law ◽  
Mental Health Act ◽  
International Trends ◽  
Strong Emphasis ◽  
Mental Health Legislation ◽  
Health Legislation

Australia has a generally progressive approach to mental health law, reflective of international trends in human rights. Responsibility for most legislation is vested in the six States and two Territories, a total of eight jurisdictions, such that at any given time several new mental health acts are in preparation. In addition there is a model mental health act that promotes common standards. Transfer of orders between jurisdictions relies on Memoranda of Understanding between them, and is patchy. State and Territory legislation is generally cognisant of international treaty obligations, which are themselves the preserve of the Federal Parliament and legislature. UK legislation has had a key influence in Australia, the 1959 Mental Health Act in particular, with its strong emphasis on voluntary hospitalisation, prefacing deinstitutionalisation.

Mental Health Legislation

2019 ◽  
pp. 11-22
Author(s):  
Julie Chalmers
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Community Treatment ◽  
Mental Health Act ◽  
Mental Health Legislation ◽  
Mental Capacity Act 2005 ◽  
Future Challenges ◽  
Human Rights Act ◽  
Human Rights Act 1998 ◽  
Mental Capacity Act ◽  
Health Legislation

This chapter gives an overview of the mental health legislation of England and Wales as it applies to inpatient psychiatric wards, discusses some key concepts such as capacity and deprivation of liberty, and highlights the principles underpinning the Human Rights Act 1998, the Mental Capacity Act 2005, and the Mental Health Act 1983. The use of legislation at the point of admission and in the provision of treatment particularly in the absence of consent will be considered. The safeguards protecting the patient detained under the Mental Health Act will be highlighted and the use of community treatment orders on leaving hospital will be briefly touched upon. Finally, governance of the use of the Mental Health Act and some future challenges to the basis of legislation will be discussed.

scholarly journals Human rights-based approaches to mental health legislation and global mental health

2018 ◽  
Vol 16 (02) ◽  
pp. 37-40 ◽  
Author(s):  
Julian Eaton
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Human Rights ◽  
Global Mental Health ◽  
Best Interest ◽  
Persons With Disabilities ◽  
Medical Authority ◽  
Mental Health Legislation ◽  
United Nations Convention ◽  
Alternative Practices ◽  
Health Legislation

Globally, established practice in mental health services has tended to be codified into law in ways that are paternalistic, seeking to make decisions for patients that presume ‘best interest’ and which ultimately place power in the hands of medical authority. The United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) – which has been widely ratified globally – challenges these assumptions, instead placing the expressed will and preference of patients as the most important factor in decision-making, including treatment and consent to admission. The contradictions between these approaches cause profound challenges in legislation reform, but a human rights framework offers the potential for a paradigm shift in the way that people are treated in services, and in exploration of alternative practices that promise a more humane and dignified future for mental health care.

scholarly journals The Human Rights Act and mental health legislation

2003 ◽  
Vol 182 (2) ◽  
pp. 91-94 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jonathan Bindman ◽  
Samantha Maingay ◽  
George Szmukler
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Human Rights ◽  
Mental Health Legislation ◽  
Human Rights Act ◽  
Health Legislation

scholarly journals Mental Health Legislation Through History and Challenges in Implementing Article 14 of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities

2020 ◽  
pp. 56-79
Author(s):  
Marisabell Škorić ◽  
Sandra Fabijanić Gagro
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Human Rights ◽  
Historical Development ◽  
The State ◽  
Persons With Disabilities ◽  
National Legislation ◽  
Mental Health Legislation ◽  
Legal Frameworks ◽  
The Right ◽  
Health Legislation

The paper is divided into two parts to facilitate a clearer understanding of all aspects of the change in the position of people with psychosocial disabilities, regarding the right to liberty and security, through the historical development of national and international legal frameworks. The first part briefly presents an overview of national legislation on the protection of persons with psychosocial disabilities and the circumstances in which states adopted the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities earlier this century. The second part of the paper underscores the challenges the States Parties face in the implementation of Article 14 of the Convention. The State Parties’ reports show that the processes of changing the perceptions of persons with psychosocial disabilities, when it comes to their involuntary detention, have been changing quite slowly and partially and that the realisation of their human rights is one of the Convention’s greatest challenges.

Crime-Preventing Neurointerventions and the Law

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lisa Forsberg
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Human Rights ◽  
Sex Offenders ◽  
Ethical Issues ◽  
Medical Law ◽  
Human Rights Law ◽  
Mental Health Legislation ◽  
Different Types ◽  
Legal Regimes ◽  
Health Legislation

Anti-libidinal interventions (ALIs) are a type of crime-preventing neurointervention (CPN) already in use in many jurisdictions. This chapter examines different types of legal regimes under which ALIs might be provided to sex offenders. The types of legal regimes examined are dedicated statutes that directly provide for ALI use, consensual ALI provision under general medical law principles, mental health legislation providing for ALI use (exemplified by the mental health regime in England and Wales), and European human rights law as it pertains to ALI provision. The chapter considers what we might learn from ALIs in respect of likely or possible arrangements for the provision of other CPNs, and draws attention to some ethical issues raised by each of these types of regime, worth keeping in mind when considering arrangements for CPN provision.

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