Mental Health Legislation Through History and Challenges in Implementing Article 14 of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities

Abstract

The paper is divided into two parts to facilitate a clearer understanding of all aspects of the change in the position of people with psychosocial disabilities, regarding the right to liberty and security, through the historical development of national and international legal frameworks. The first part briefly presents an overview of national legislation on the protection of persons with psychosocial disabilities and the circumstances in which states adopted the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities earlier this century. The second part of the paper underscores the challenges the States Parties face in the implementation of Article 14 of the Convention. The State Parties’ reports show that the processes of changing the perceptions of persons with psychosocial disabilities, when it comes to their involuntary detention, have been changing quite slowly and partially and that the realisation of their human rights is one of the Convention’s greatest challenges.