The CRPD & mental health reform in Sweden

Activity: Talk or presentationPresentation

Description

The Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) sets out a new vision for mental health care that has self-determination and equal treatment as core standards. This new vision fundamentally challenges long-standing practices in domestic mental health systems, including the use of involuntary hospitalization, treatment without consent and the use of restraints. My presentation discusses the impact of the CRPD on mental health law and policy in Sweden. Since 2008, when Sweden ratified the Convention, several public inquiries into mental health legislation have been carried out and proposals for new legislation have been put forward. The instructions for these inquiries typically refer to the CRPD as a treaty clarifying the state’s obligations towards persons psychosocial disabilities which must be taken into consideration. In practice, the Convention has however had little, if any, impact on the findings and proposals by these inquiries. By contrast, critique voiced by the Committee on the Rights of the Child has prompted proposals for new legislation limiting the use of restraints against children and jurisprudence from the European Court of Human Rights is driving proposals for more and better legal safeguards against arbitrary use of compulsion. The presentation ends with a reflection on why the CRPD has not played a more prominent role in the development of mental health law in Sweden.
Period2022 Nov 4
Event titleMental Health, Human Rights Law & the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities
Event typeConference
LocationGalway, IrelandShow on map