Convention Compliance, Public Safety and the Social Inclusion of Mentally Disordered People

The first part of this paper considers the impact of the HRA 1998 in the courts, and the application of Articles 3, 5, and 8 in relation to psychiatric detention, treatment without consent, and seclusion. The second part looks at its effect on the discourse of law reform. Here a key theme is the way Convention compliance has been used by the government to justify measures that will lead to a broadening of the scope of compulsory powers and a reduction in psychiatric service users’ rights