Response to the Commentaries

We are immensely grateful to the commentators for their careful reading of the Model ‘Fusion’ Law (ML). The level of support for our proposal from most of the commentators is encouraging as is the news that Northern Ireland intends to introduce legislation along similar lines. The aim of the ML is to eliminate the unwarranted discrimination against people with mental disorder that is inherent in current mental health legislation in England and Wales and in many other jurisdictions. We remain convinced that the principles underlying the enterprise are right and that they can be translated into a practical form. At the same time, excellent points have been raised by the commentators that have stimulated us to think further and to propose a number of revisions.The editors have invited us to respond briefly to the commentaries. We should have liked to engage with each of the commentators on a number of specific issues, but in our response we must focus on the major themes that have emerged