This case involved a challenge to a decision of the Australian Capital Territory (ACT) Mental Health Tribunal. The ACT Supreme Court set aside an order to detain and administer psychiatric treatment to Geraldine Patricia Burnett, a 38 year old woman who suffered from a mild psychotic disorder. Burnett had at various times been taken into …Read more

Applicant was a British national suffering from mental illness whilst on prison remand in 1984. He had served sentences for various physical assault convictions. The court imposed a hospital order on the applicant and subjected him to a heightened restriction order for the protection of the public from serious harm under the 1983 Mental Health …Read more

Francis (F) had been convicted of murder and sentenced to death in February 1980. An appeal was dismissed in November 1981 and in October 1987 a note of the oral judgment was produced but nothing written was issued. His lawyers had apparently stated that they could find no grounds to argue on his behalf with …Read more

Applicant, a Hungarian national, served a prison sentence during which he assaulted prison officers, other detainees and threatened judges. He served a six-month pre-detention period in a facility for mentally ill offenders where he remained until his conditional release. He claims that his rights pursuant to Article 5 of the European Convention of Human Rights …Read more

The applicant, a Hungarian citizen living in Germany, was detained in a psychiatric hospital based on the finding that he had performed acts which constituted criminal offences but for which he could not be held responsible because he was mentally disabled. The applicant instituted numerous proceedings concerning the review of his detention without representation by …Read more

The appellants were found guilty of first degree murder. At trial, expert evidence was given that the appellants suffered from a paranoid psychosis which made them believe they could rule the world, and in order to achieve this they had to kill. Although they were aware that the laws of Canada existed, the appellants did …Read more

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

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

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