The UK Government should withdraw from the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.

SUMMARY: Many psychiatrists in the UK may be surprised to find that the Government ratified a convention ten years ago that suggests compulsory mental health treatment be prohibited. The Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities is arguably the most important legal instrument that no one in psychiatry ever discusses, but if moved from ratification to enforcement it would have enormous effect on day-to-day practice. Here, Dr Paul Gosney argues that the convention if enforced would be damaging for the people it aims to protect, whereas Professor Peter Bartlett defends it as a necessary challenge to the inequalities in our current system.

Current appeal system for those detained in England and Wales under the Mental Health Act needs reform.

The approach to managing the involuntary detention of people suffering from psychiatric conditions can be divided into those with clinicians at the forefront of decision-making and those who rely heavily on the judiciary. The system in England and Wales takes a clinical approach where doctors have widespread powers to detain and treat patients involuntarily. A protection in this system is the right of the individual to challenge a decision to deprive them of their liberty or treat them against their will. This protection is provided by the First-tier Tribunal; however, the number of successful appeals is low. In this paper, the system of appeal in England and Wales is outlined. This is followed by a discussion of why so few patients successfully appeal their detention with the conclusion that the current system is flawed. A number of recommendations about how the system might be reformed are offered.