Mental Health Legislation threatens civil liberties

12.00.00am UTC (GMT +0000) Sun 4th Feb 2007

As the Joint Committee on Human Rights (JCHR) publishes a report scrutinising the human rights implications of the Mental Health Bill, Dr Evan Harris MP, Liberal Democrat member of the JCHR, and an elected member of the BMA's Medical Ethics Committee said,

"It is depressing and disappointing that after Green and White papers and two draft bills we still find this proposed legislation falls so far short of human rights requirements, and the signs from debates in the House of Lords are that ministers are not listening".

"The mentally ill are particularly vulnerable and their civil liberties must not be sacrificed for political expediency or dogma"

"The wide definition of mental disorder in the Bill leaves a clear danger of stigmatising and harassing those people with what might be called sexual disorders which have not previously been considered to be mental health illnesses. That would be unacceptable, and doctors would not be willing to be party to such a plan".