Some thoughts on the proposed Mental Health Act

Authors

  • Professor Michael Gunn Nottingham Trent University
  • Professor Tony Holland University of Cambridge

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.19164/ijmhcl.v0i8.382

Abstract

Our thoughts on the proposed Mental Health Act are a product of us working together for a considerable period of time and feeling that we have something to offer jointly by bringing together our legal and psychiatric perspectives.

The main thrust of our thoughts is that we have a fundamental problem with the reform of mental health law as proposed. We are beginning to question whether there is any need for a mental health act at all. In any case, legislation which interferes with the freedoms of others should, we believe, be predicated on the libertarian model as espoused by John Stuart Mill.

Author Biographies

Professor Michael Gunn, Nottingham Trent University

Professor of Law and Associate Dean of Nottingham Law School

Professor Tony Holland, University of Cambridge

PPP Foundation Professor of Learning Disabilities, Department of Psychiatry

Downloads

Published

2014-09-08

Issue

No. 8 (2002): December

Section

Articles and Comment

License

Authors who publish with this journal agree to the following terms:

a. Authors retain copyright and grant the journal right of first publication with the work simultaneously licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License that allows others to share the work with an acknowledgement of the work's authorship and initial publication in this journal.

b. Authors are able to enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements for the non-exclusive distribution of the journal's published version of the work (e.g., post it to an institutional repository or publish it in a book), with an acknowledgement of its initial publication in this journal.

c. Authors are permitted and encouraged to post their work online (e.g., in institutional repositories or on their website) prior to and during the submission process, as it can lead to productive exchanges, as well as earlier and greater citation of published work