Isolement, contention et soins psychiatriques. Point d’étape entre deux réécritures (CSP, art. L. 3222-5-1)

Abstract

Ordered by a psychiatrist, seclusion and restraint are practices of last resort, limited in duration and subject to strict control (CSP, art. L. 3222-5-1). This definition and these rules of principle were introduced by Law No. 2016-41 of January 24, 2016. Five years later, the legal regime of seclusion and restraint had to be rewritten by the legislature following the decision of the Constitutional Council of June 19, 2020. Framed by new rules, strict and precise, in force since December 16, 2020 (Law No. 2020-1576, Dec. 14, 2020), the law of seclusion and restraint has become obscure but above all insufficiently protective for the person treated, with regard to the rights and freedoms that the Constitution guarantees, as decided by the Constitutional Council on June 4, 2021. A new intervention of the legislature is therefore expected before December 31, 2021, to make systematic the referral to the judge of freedoms and detention after 24 hours of seclusion or 48 h of restraint. Between these two rewritings, this progress report addresses the critical analysis formulated by the ten paragraphs that make up this text.