Professor Penelope Weller

The Future of Mental Health Law: A Comparative Analysis of Law Reform Debates in Scotland, Northern Ireland, Ireland, England, and Wales

Mental Health Law and its relationship to human rights has become increasingly contested following the adoption of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD). Human rights arguments coupled with rising rates of compulsory mental health treatment have prompted major reviews of mental health laws across the United Kingdom and beyond. These reviews have heralded a new era of human rights based mental health laws. There is, however, considerable differences amongst the jurisdictions with respect to engagement and interpretation of human rights obligations. How the full realisation of human rights of those with psycho-social disabilities should be addressed in mental health law has become the focus of the global reform. This project will conduct a critical discourse and doctrinal analysis of current law reform debates and consequential legislative reforms to identify the philosophical and legal rationales and legislative structures that constitute human rights based mental health laws.