Mental Health Bill (HL): June 2007

The legislation governing the compulsory treatment of certain people who have a mental disorder is the Mental Health Act 1983 (the 1983 Act). The main purpose of this Bill is to amend that Act but it is also being used to introduce "Bournewood safeguards" through amending the Mental Capacity Act 2005 (MCA). These changes are in response to the 2004 European Court of Human Rights judgment (HLvUK) (the "Bournewood judgment") involving an autistic man who was kept at Bournewood Hospital by doctors against the wishes of his carers. The European Court of Human Rights found that admission to and retention in hospital of HL under the common law of necessity amounted to a breach of Article 5(1) ECHR (deprivation of liberty) and of Article 5(4) (right to have lawfulness of detention reviewed by a court).