Lords Consider Mental Health Laws
A House of Lords committee is to begin considering proposals to introduce tougher mental health laws. The new bill would allow the enforced detention of people who are mentally ill, even if they have not committed any crime.
It also suggests strengthening powers 23 years old to ensure patients have therapy once they are released back into the community. Critics of the bill say it would fail to safeguard the rights of patients.
Current laws do not allow people with severe personality disorders who have committed no offence to be detained. BBC correspondent Jannat Jalil said it is the third mental health bill the government has tried to introduce.
Our correspondent said the government wants to compel patients who have been released into the community to take their medication, even if they do not want to.
It also wants to detain people with personality orders who are described as untreatable, even if they have not committed a crime.
Our correspondent said doctors and campaigners argue the bill erodes the rights of patients without making the public any safer.
About 50 Labour MPs have already signalled their intention to oppose the bill, which would apply to England and Wales.
The changes would only affect about 14,000 of the 600,000 people who use mental health services each year.
The bill was promised in the Queen’s Speech and comes after previous attempts to change the act were thwarted by opposition from campaigners and doctors.
The government published a draft Mental Health Bill in 2002, but dropped it last March.
Instead of replacing the old laws, the latest bill proposes amending the existing act.
The desire to change the law was largely driven by Michael Stone’s 1998 conviction for the brutal murders of Lin and Megan Russell.
