Does the Mental Health Bill protect the right to liberty?
The Joint Committee on Human Rights will undertake legislative scrutiny of the Mental Health Bill on Wednesday 29 January when they question experts in mental health legislation and policy.
Meeting details
The Mental Health Bill would introduce wide-ranging changes to the Mental Health Act 1983. This is the principal legislation governing the detention and compulsory treatment of people suffering from mental disorders in England and Wales. The Bill would make changes to the law in multiple areas including the approach to autism and learning disabilities, grounds for detention, and community treatment orders.
This session will focus on the whether the bill goes far enough in reforming the provisions of the Mental Health Act to improve respect for human rights, particularly Article 5 – the right to liberty. This includes new limits on powers of detention for autistic people and people with learning disabilities and removing police stations as designated “places of safety” for people experiencing mental health crises.