Mental Health and Due Process in the Americas: Protecting the Human Rights of Persons Involuntarily Admitted to and Detained in Psychiatric Institutions

Pan-American Journal of Public Health, Vol. 18, p. 366, 2005

Wayne State University Law School Research Paper No. 08-30

10 Pages Posted: 24 Aug 2008

See all articles by Lance Gable

Lance Gable

Wayne State University Law School

Javier Vasquez

affiliation not provided to SSRN

Lawrence O. Gostin

Georgetown University - Law Center - O'Neill Institute for National and Global Health Law

Heidi Jimenez

affiliation not provided to SSRN

Date Written: 2005

Abstract

In many countries in the region of the Americas, persons with mental disabilities can be involuntarily confined in psychiatric institutions for indefinite periods with hardly any justification and little or no oversight. Such circumstances clearly violate the human rights principles of liberty and due process found in binding international and regional legal instruments. Furthermore, the countries of the Americas generally have failed to adopt legislation or interpret constitutional provisions consistent with human rights principles and guidelines.

The oversight and monitoring mechanisms of the Inter-American Human Rights System can constitute an effective legal tool that can be used to promote and protect the human rights and fundamental freedoms of persons with mental disabilities by supplementing existing national laws or serving as a method of regulation in places where national laws are not available. Countries should enact national laws that apply basic due process protections for individuals involuntarily confined in mental health facilities. This would help to ensure that individuals are not admitted and detained arbitrarily, that the person's mental disability is sufficiently serious to warrant involuntary confinement, and that the decision to admit and detain the person is reviewed expediently and periodically by an independent, impartial tribunal. We contend that a more vigorous application of human rights norms by the Inter-American Human Rights System is necessary to hold states accountable for their treatment of persons with mental disabilities and to lead them to enact legislation protecting the rights of persons with mental disabilities who are confined involuntarily in psychiatric facilities.

Suggested Citation

Gable, Lance and Vasquez, Javier and Gostin, Lawrence O. and Jimenez, Heidi, Mental Health and Due Process in the Americas: Protecting the Human Rights of Persons Involuntarily Admitted to and Detained in Psychiatric Institutions (2005). Pan-American Journal of Public Health, Vol. 18, p. 366, 2005, Wayne State University Law School Research Paper No. 08-30, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=1247069

Lance Gable (Contact Author)

Wayne State University Law School ( email )

471 Palmer
Detroit, MI 48202
United States

Javier Vasquez

affiliation not provided to SSRN ( email )

Lawrence O. Gostin

Georgetown University - Law Center - O'Neill Institute for National and Global Health Law ( email )

600 New Jersey Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20001
United States
202-662-9038 (Phone)
202-662-9055 (Fax)

Heidi Jimenez

affiliation not provided to SSRN ( email )

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