Region: Americas
Year: 2000
Court: Supreme Court
Health Topics: Hospitals, Mental health
Human Rights: Right to liberty and security of person
Tags: Compulsory commitment, Compulsory confinement, Health facilities, Involuntary commitment, Involuntary confinement, Mandatory commitment, Mandatory confinement, Mental disorder, Mental illness, Psychiatry, Schizophrenia
The petitioner challenged an order by the lower court allowing his continued detention in a psychiatric hospital. A psychiatrist who had examined him stated that he could make a full recovery through outpatient treatment and did not need to remain detained. The lower court had upheld his detention because he was diagnosed with undifferentiated schizophrenia and his family refused to take responsibility for his psychiatric control.
The petitioner claimed that he had been arbitrarily deprived of his liberty.
The Court held that there had been no violation of the petitioner's rights, because the lower court had complied with the law by imposing a remedial measure that took into account both the petitioner's health status and the refusal of his brother to take charge of his psychiatric control. The lower court had also abided by Articles 65 and 70 of the Constitution, which collectively dealt with health rights and the rights of persons with mental disabilities.
"En el presente caso, no se encuentra ninguna violación a los derechos constitucionales del señor Santos Linares, ya que el Juez lo que ha hecho es cumplir con la ley al aplicarle tales medidas en resolución razonada, por ser él, responsable de la libertad o ingreso del favorecido a un centro hospitalario para su curación, por lo que habiendo actuado correctamente dicho Juez, lo procedente es que continúe la causa según su estado, tal como lo establece el art. 54 de la Ley de Procedimientos Constitucionales y consecuentemente, el favorecido debe continuar bajo las medidas curativas impuestas." Page 2.
"In this case, there is no violation of the constitutional rights of Mr. Santos Linares, as what the Judge has done is to comply with the law by applying such measures in a reasoned decision, because he was responsible for the freedom or the ingress of the accused to a hospital for healing, so having that Judge acted correctly, it is appropriate to continue the cause according to its state, as provided in article 54 of the Constitutional Procedures Act and; consequently, the accused must continue under the remedial measures imposed." Page 2.