Complainants P and M were mental health advocates, who brought the complaint on behalf of patients detained at Campama, a psychiatric unit of the Royal Victoria Hospital, and existing and future mental health patients detained under the Mental Health Acts of the Republic of The Gambia. Complainants alleged that legislation governing mental health in The …Read more

H, a young woman who suffered from Down’s syndrome and was severely mentally disabled, lived with her mother, BL, who was deeply distrustful of the health authorities. When her BL fell ill and H’s behaviour became increasingly disturbed H was formally admitted to hospital for assessment under section 2 (allowing mandatory commitment for mentally ill …Read more

Petitioner, Sell, had a long history of mental illness. In 1998, a federal grand jury issued an indictment charging Sell with attempting to murder an FBI agent who had arrested him in connection with a separate charge of mail fraud and a former employee who planned to testify against him in the upcoming fraud case. …Read more

The applicant was registered as a male at birth. In 1991, The District Court granted the applicant’s request to change her forenames to Carola Brenda after hearing from several psychiatric and psychological experts who determined that the applicant was a male-to-female transsexual and had been for the last three years living as a female. In …Read more

The Appellant, Atkins, a mentally disabled individual, was convicted of capital murder and related crimes by a Virginia jury and sentenced to death. He brought this appeal alleging that he could not be sentenced to death because executing the mentally disabled would constitute “cruel and unusual punishment” as prohibited by the Eighth Amendment.

B and W were detained in hospital after being sentenced to terms of discretionary life imprisonment. Both complained that they did not have access to a procedure by which they could challenge the lawfulness of their continued detention. B was sentenced to life imprisonment for rape in 1983. His tariff period of detention was set …Read more

Petitioner claimed a breach of Article 7 (freedom from torture, cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment and punishment) and Article 9, particularly Article 9(1) (right to liberty and security of person) and Article 9(4) (a person deprived of liberty’s right to fair trial) of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) when he was …Read more

P was a U.S. citizen and C was her British husband. Their daughter, S, was born in 1998 in the UK. In 1985, P had given birth to a son B in the US. In 1994, the California authorities took B into protective custody, alleging that P was harming B by administering laxatives to him …Read more

The three applicants were mental patients held in state hospitals who had been convicted of homicide.  At the time of their convictions, the medical view was that all psychiatric conditions were treatable to an extent.  However, relevant medical knowledge had moved on, and medical advice was now that the conditions of the three applicants were …Read more

Bensaid brought an action against the United Kingdom as a result of a proposed deportation order to Algeria. Bensaid was a schizophrenic suffering from a psychotic illness. He had arrived in the United Kingdom from Algeria in 1989 and had been granted indefinite leave to remain after marrying a United Kingdom citizen. This leave lapsed …Read more