The judicial and medical points of view on mental health in Israel: an analysis of legal rulings

Abstract

In Israel, since the implementation of the Treatment of Mental Patients Act 1991, the Basic Law on Human Freedom and Dignity 1992 and the Patients' Rights Act 1996, there has been a growing awareness and interest in the rights of the individual and in particular the rights of mental patients. There has also been increasing criticism of decisions of the District Psychiatrist and the Regional Psychiatric Board as is reflected by the numerous Appeals to the court against the Regional Psychiatric Board, the increasing number of patients represented by a lawyer at the Psychiatric Board hearings, and by the great number of psychiatrists involved in the criminal proceedings against their criminal psychiatric patients. Following a description of the statutory framework in Israel, including the role of the different courts, this paper reviews some of the recent court judgements and rulings on mental health issues. The paper considers the following three areas related to mental health law decisions: Regional Psychiatric Board decisions, Involuntary Hospitalization orders issued by court, involuntary hospitalization orders to patients violating an involuntary out-patient treatment order. The paper reviews recent Israeli court judgments on mental health matters and discloses a number of issues which emphasise the disparity between the judicial and medical-psychiatric viewpoints.