Accessing and maintaining legal representation for persons with mental disorder

It is vital that a person with mental disorder has equal access to the law without discrimination, whether or not they have capacity. This article examines issues relating to mental disordered persons and legal service provision. In particular it considers the extent to which legal service provision should be provided, overseen and enforced by the state, and the extent to which the legal professional regulates itself nationally in terms of provision and quality of services. As well, as access to legal representation, the adequacy of the representation is also considered. The article describes international law standards from the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) and the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR). In terms of national professional standards in Scotland, it describes the guidance on non-discrimination from the Law Society of Scotland. The article concludes that international professional and human rights standards and guidance go some way to protect the interests of persons with mental illness and learning disabilities with relation to legal representation. However, these rights tend to focus on criminal cases and psychiatric detention where a person’s liberty is an issue, and are less clear when it comes to civil matter