Decision-Making in Mental Health Law: Can Past Experience Predict Future Practice?
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.19164/ijmhcl.v1i12.166Abstract
The short answer to this is no. Whilst it may be possible to be certain about the occurrence of some events, the prediction of decision-making requires caution and qualification. Yet past practice can be a good guide to making informed guesses about the future. Accordingly, this article addresses the question of whether what we know about how practitioners make decisions in respect of current mental health law can help us to understand how the government’s latest proposals for reforming mental health law are likely to fare. Two main issues are discussed: first, the nature of the proposed criteria; and second, the nature of the process, who will get involved with whom? The article concludes with some miscellaneous observations and engages in some autopoietically inspired kite-flying.
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