Lashin, a Russian citizen, was diagnosed with schizophrenia, given a 2nd degree disability status, and hospitalised multiple times. A hospital examination concluded that Lashin was incapable of understanding the meaning of his actions and unable to control them. Following an application by the public prosecutor, the District Court of Omsk declared Lashin legally incapacitated at …Read more

Applicant, Petukhova, argued that she was deprived of her liberty when she was forced to have an involuntary examination. She alleged that this violated Article 5 § 1 (b) of the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms (“Convention”), which protects the right to liberty and security of person. In December 2005, …Read more

A pregnant 37-year-old woman diagnosed with bipolar disorder was compulsorily detained under Section 2 of the Mental Health Act 1983. She had been on and off medication for 8 years and had suffered both remissions and relapses, due to which she was detained at various times in Italy, France and in England where she currently …Read more

The Court examined the constitutionality of Brian’s Law, which was passed in 2000 after a man named Brian Smith was fatally shot by an untreated schizophrenic. The law included expanded committal criteria and allowed for involuntary admission for individuals who had experienced “substantial mental deterioration,”even if they were not necessarily a danger to others. In …Read more

This case concerned an application against the Czech Republic lodged with the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) under Article 34 of the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms (the Convention). The applicant alleged that he was ill-treated in a sobering-up centre in violation of Article 3 of the Convention, and …Read more

The applicant was hospitalized for mental illness four times between 1999 and 2006. The first time, the applicant received in-patient treating in a state-run hospital. In 2000, the applicant was registered as a person with potential mental problems with the Odessa Region Psychoneurological Dispensary. Three years later, the applicant was again involuntarily hospitalized. A doctor …Read more

After sounding a car horn repeatedly and behaving in a highly agitated manner, the applicant was arrested by police in Birmingham, United Kingdom. It was determined that before his arrest, the man had inflicted serious injury upon his aunt at his residence. He was detained under section 136 of the Mental Health Act, which allows …Read more

The Applicant, a UK citizen born in 1947, alleged that the seclusion policy (“Policy”) of Ashworth Special Hospital (“Ashworth”), the maximum security hospital where he was committed for a mental illness, violated the European Convention on Human Rights. After several instances of incarceration and hospitalization on account of various mental health issues, the applicant was …Read more

S, an adult male diagnosed with schizophrenia, lived for many years with his half-sister and step-mother, his closest living relatives, before they applied in 2000 to the Ruse Regional Court to have S declared legally incapacitated. The court declared S only partially incapacitated. S’s family refused to accept guardianship for S, and the court instead …Read more

Milan Sykora, a Czech national, suffered from a psycho-social disability and did not take his medication because he claimed it negatively affected his eyesight. In November 2000 the Brno Municipal Court deprived Sykora of his capacity to make legal decisions after he failed to collect his pension for four years. The decision was made based …Read more