Abolishing Mental Health Laws to Comply with the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities

2014 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Persons With Disabilities ◽  
Health Laws

scholarly journals The Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and the social model of health: new perspectives

2014 ◽  
pp. 74 ◽  
Author(s):  
Penelope Weller
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Human Rights ◽  
Social Model ◽  
Persons With Disabilities ◽  
People With Mental Illness ◽  
European Court ◽  
The Social ◽  
Rights Discourse ◽  
Human Rights Discourse ◽  
Health Laws

Contemporary mental health laws are embedded in basic human rights principle, and their ongoing evolution is influenced by contemporary human rights discourse, international declarations and conventions, and the authoritative jurisprudence of the European Court of Human Rights (ECrtHR). The<em> Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities</em> (CRPD) is the most recent expression of international human rights applicable to people with disability including people with mental illness.3 It provides a fresh benchmark against which to assess the human rights compatibility of domestic mental health laws.

scholarly journals Involuntary Detention and Treatment: Are We Edging Toward a “Paradigm Shift”?

2020 ◽  
Vol 46 (2) ◽  
pp. 231-235 ◽  
Author(s):  
George Szmukler
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Human Rights ◽  
Mental Disorder ◽  
Paradigm Shift ◽  
Treatment Decision ◽  
Physical Illness ◽  
Persons With Disabilities ◽  
Health Laws

Abstract Recent challenges to conventional mental health laws concerning involuntary detention and treatment of persons with a mental disorder have led to proposals, or indeed an insistence, that fundamental reform is necessary. A key theme has been the need to eliminate unfair discrimination against people with a mental disorder because their human rights are not respected on an equal basis with other people. Some proposals depart radically from conventional assumptions concerning the justification of involuntary detention and treatment. One is a “fusion law,” a generic law applying to all persons lacking the ability to make a treatment decision, whether resulting from a “mental” or “physical” illness. An authoritative interpretation of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (2006) goes so far as to maintain that involuntary interventions are a violation of the Convention.

scholarly journals Human rights principles in developing and updating policies and laws on mental health

2016 ◽  
Vol 3 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. Schulze
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Human Rights ◽  
Action Plan ◽  
World Health ◽  
Persons With Disabilities ◽  
Attitudinal Barriers ◽  
Holistic Understanding ◽  
Health Action ◽  
Need For Support ◽  
Health Laws

The World Health Organization's Mental Health Action Plan 2013–2020 stipulates human rights as a cross-cutting principle (WHO, 2013) and foresees global targets to update policies as well as mental health laws in line with international and regional human rights instruments. The international human rights agreements repeatedly refer to health, including mental health. The most pertinent provisions related to mental health are enshrined in the 2006 Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD), which sets out human rights in an accessible and inclusive fashion to ensure the equal participation of persons with disabilities. The inconclusive description of disability in the treaty overtly refers to ‘mental impairment’ as part of an explicitly evolving understanding of disability. This text sketches some of the underlying concepts as they apply to the realm of mental health: non-discrimination of persons with disabilities and measures that should be taken to ensure accessibility in a holistic understanding; removal of social and attitudinal barriers as much as communication and intellectual barriers but also institutional hurdles. The CRPD's paradigm shift away from framing disability mainly through deficits towards a social understanding of disability as the result of interaction and focusing on capacity is the core on which the provision of mental health services at community level to enable participation in society shall be ensured. Questions of capacity, also to make decisions and the possible need for support in so doing, are sketched out.

Where does this take us?

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
George Szmukler
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Mental Health Policy ◽  
Law Reform ◽  
Health Law ◽  
Persons With Disabilities ◽  
Mental Health Law ◽  
Reduce Risk ◽  
The One ◽  
Health Laws

The final chapter summarizes the arguments leading to the conclusion that conventional mental health law is discriminatory and that action is now required to remedy this unacceptable situation. The reasons for a ‘Fusion Law’ are reviewed. What prospects the future might hold for reform are considered. Two major currents in mental health policy that are in conflict are noted—the empowerment of, and giving a ‘voice’ to, persons with mental illness, on the one hand; and, the attempts to reduce ‘risk’, especially to others, on the other. The prospects for mental health law reform will depend on which will be the stronger. The UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities as well as the introduction of capacity-based criteria in recent mental health laws in some countries offer promise. The passing of a generic, fusion-based law in Northern Ireland in 2016 is especially noteworthy.

scholarly journals Mental health disabilities and human rights protections

2015 ◽  
Vol 2 ◽  
Author(s):  
G. Szmukler ◽  
M. Bach
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Human Rights ◽  
Legal Framework ◽  
Mental Health Stigma ◽  
Human Rights Violations ◽  
Persons With Disabilities ◽  
Number Of Factors ◽  
Main Determinants ◽  
Human Rights Norms ◽  
Health Laws

Background.Around the world, reports regularly expose persistent and systemic human rights violations of patients in mental health services and facilities, and of those who are unable to access needed supports. A number of factors contribute – political will; the range and quality of services available; public and professional attitudes to mental health; stigma; health professionals’ training and expertise; and available resources.Methods.This paper examines one of the main determinants, the legal framework. This sets the parameters for mental health policies and services and for applicable human rights norms and standards that can be realized in practice.Results.We provide an overview of international human rights instruments in relation to mental health disabilities, and of the major human rights violations in this area. Key implications for mental health law reform are drawn with a particular focus on discrimination and coercive interventions. The major challenges posed by the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (2006) are examined. Current mental health laws, to greater or lesser degrees, fail to meet the newly required standards. We discuss reforms based on ‘generic law’ and ‘legal capacity’ principles that seek to meet those standards.Conclusions.We outline some emergent and promising examples of reform. The role of civil society and the importance of the standing of those with mental health disabilities in this process is noted.

Imposing Order on Diverse Mental Health Laws.

PsycCRITIQUES ◽  
2003 ◽  
Vol 48 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Richard Rogers
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Health Laws

Ireland

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eilionóir Flynn
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
International Law ◽  
Health Law ◽  
Disability Rights ◽  
Eu Law ◽  
Persons With Disabilities ◽  
Unique Position ◽  
Domestic Courts ◽  
Employment Equality ◽  
The Impact

Ireland’s constitution adopts a dualist approach to international law. It is in a unique position as a state which has not ratified the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD), but one which is obliged to adhere to the provisions of the CRPD in EU law, by virtue of the EU’s conclusion of the CRPD in 2010. To date, the CRPD has been referenced in a number of cases before the Irish courts in the context of employment equality law and mental health law. This chapter examines the extent of the impact that the CRPD can have on the judgments of domestic courts on disability rights in advance of the state’s ratification of the Convention.

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