Forced psychiatric treatment in the light of the UN Convention on the Right of Persons with Disabilities

Abstract

The main purpose of this paper is to analyse the conformity of the provisions of the Act of 19 August 1994 on the Protection of Mental Health with the provisions of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities of 13 December 2006 (CRPD). The paper describes the particular provisions of the Act on the Protection of Mental Health that allow forced treatment of the
mentally ill, and the provisions of the CRPD on that matter. The stance of the Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities which questions the legality of forced treatment of mentally ill in the light of the CRPD is presented, followed by the author’s own view. It is concluded that the provisions of the Act on the Protection of Mental Health which permit forced treatment of the mentally ill are inconsistent with the provisions of the CRPD, in particular with Articles 12, 14, 15, 17 and 25. The provisions of the CRPD, as discussed in this paper, do not allow deprivation of liberty based on disability including cases where the legislation provides additional premises for deprivation of liberty, for example threatening one’s life or life and health of others. According to the CRPD, medical treatment, including psychiatric treatment, may be provided only on the basis of free and informed consent. Based on the above there is lack of legal grounds for forced treatment of mentally ill, as the international agreement ratified with the prior consent expressed in the act has the priority over the act if it is not consistent with the international agreement (Article 91 par. 2 of the Constitution).