R v Swain
Country: CanadaYear: 1991
Court: Supreme Court of Canada
Citation: [1991] 1 RCS
Health Topics: Mental health, Prisons, Public safety, Violence
Human Rights: Right to due process/fair trial, Right to liberty and security of person
Swain was arrested and charged with assault and aggravated assault. Due to his bizarre conduct during the incident and at the time of his arrest, Swain was transferred from jail to a mental health centre before trial. His condition improved with medication, and he was conditionally released into the community before trial. Swain continued to …Read more
W v. Egdell
Country: United KingdomYear: 1990
Court: Court of Appeal, Civil Division
Citation: [1989] EWCA Civ 13; [1990] 2 WLR 471; [1990] Ch 359; [1990] 1 All ER 835
Health Topics: Health care and health services, Health information, Mental health
Human Rights: Right to due process/fair trial, Right to privacy
W pled guilty to manslaughter on the grounds of diminished responsibility for the indiscriminate killing of several people. He was diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia and was detained indefinitely in mental hospitals. A Mental Health Tribunal recommended W’s transfer to a regional secure unit (“RSU”) in 1984. The Secretary of State refused to consent to W’s …Read more
Luberti v. Italy
Country: ItalyYear: 1984
Court: European Court of Human Rights
Citation: App. No. 9019/80, 6 Eur. H.R. Rep. 440 (1984).
Health Topics: Health care and health services, Mental health
Human Rights: Right to due process/fair trial, Right to health, Right to liberty and security of person
Applicant, Luberti, an Italian national, shot and killed his mistress and was sentenced to twenty years imprisonment. The applicant pleaded insanity and several experts concluded that the applicant was suffering from mental illness. These findings were accepted by the Court of Appeal and he was acquitted on grounds of mental incapacity and the applicant was …Read more
Youngberg v. Romeo
Country: United StatesYear: 1982
Court: Supreme Court
Citation: 457 U.S. 307 (1982)
Health Topics: Disabilities, Health care and health services, Mental health, Prisons
Human Rights: Freedom from torture and cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment, Right to bodily integrity, Right to due process/fair trial, Right to liberty and security of person
Respondent, Romeo, a severely mentally retarded adult male, was involuntarily committed to the Pennhurst State School and Hospital (Pennhurst), pursuant to the applicable involuntary commitment provision of the Pennsylvania Mental Health and Mental Retardation Act. While at Pennhurst, Respondent was injured on several occasions through his own violence and the reaction of other residents. He …Read more
X v. The United Kingdom
Country: United KingdomYear: 1981
Court: European Court of Human Rights
Citation: App. No. 7215/75, 4 Eur. H.R. Rep. 188 (1982).
Health Topics: Health care and health services, Mental health, Prisons
Human Rights: Freedom from torture and cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment, Right to due process/fair trial, Right to health, Right to liberty and security of person
The applicant, a United Kingdom national who had previously been diagnosed with having a paranoid psychosis, claimed that the United Kingdom unlawfully deprived him of his liberty when authorities forcibly recalled him to a hospital for the criminally insane in which he had completed a prior sentence for a violent crime. At the time of …Read more
Winterwerp v. Netherlands
Country: NetherlandsYear: 1979
Court: European Court of Human Rights
Citation: Application No. 6301/73; (1979) 2 EHRR 387; [1979] ECHR 4
Health Topics: Mental health
Human Rights: Freedom of movement and residence, Right to due process/fair trial, Right to liberty and security of person
Winterwerp brought an action against the Netherlands following his detention in a psychiatric hospital. Winterwerp was committed to a psychiatric hospital in accordance with the emergency procedure then in force under the Act on State Supervision of Mentally Ill Persons. Six weeks later, during Winterwerp’s emergency detention, his wife applied for his provisional detention at …Read more