The Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) challenges the foundations of mental health legislation. The Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities has stated that non-consensual psychiatric measures reinforce inequalities in rights enjoyment for persons with mental disability by allowing the rights to liberty and autonomy to be disproportionately limited in a way that does not apply to those without mental disability. Additionally, such legislation has traditionally focused on the authorisation and regulation of compulsory psychiatric detention and treatment and little else but the CRPD highlights the fact that achieving mental wellbeing is more than simply delivering psychiatric care and treatment. It requires us to look beyond merely respecting the civil rights associated with the use of non-consensual interventions to the whole range of a person’s human rights including their economic, social, and cultural rights.
Scotland’s existing mental health legislation was originally regarded as world-leading in its human rights-based approach to the care and treatment of persons with mental disabilities. It is not, however, currently aligned with the CRPD although aspects of the CRPD can be read into its provisions and their implementation. A recent review of the legislation has, however, made recommendations which should, if adopted, arguably bring about much greater alignment with the CRPD than other English-speaking jurisdictions.
Citation
Stavert, J. (2024). Scotland: CRPD and Mental Health Legislation. In N. Gill, & N. Sartorius (Eds.), Mental Health and Human Rights: The Challenges of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities to Mental Health Care (153-165). Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-52179-9_11
Online Publication Date
Jun 22, 2024
Publication Date
Jun 23, 2024
Deposit Date
Sep 24, 2024
Publisher
Springer
Peer Reviewed
Peer Reviewed
Pages
153-165
Series Title
Sustainable Development Goals Series
Series ISSN
2523-3084
Book Title
Mental Health and Human Rights: The Challenges of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities to Mental Health Care
Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, Compulsory psychiatric care and treatment, Equality and non-discrimination, Civil rights, Economic social and cultural rights, Legislative reform, Scotland, Other UK jurisdictions
Ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages
Reduce inequality within and among countries
Promote peaceful and inclusive societies for sustainable development, provide access to justice for all and build effective, accountable and inclusive institutions at all levels
