Informal compulsion: The psychiatric treatment of juveniles under common law

Abstract

The Mental Health A ct 1983 governs the detention and compulsory treatment of mentally disordered people. Those detained have the right to seek review from a Mental Health Review Tribunal, and detained patients who are medicated or given Electro Convulsive Therapy (ECT) have the right to an independent second opinion from a consultant psychiatrist. There is no age limit below which a person may not be detained under the 1983 Act. There is reluctance on the part of many mental health professionals to use the powers of detention for children and young people, leading to the use of “informal” admission with the consent of those who have parental powers, and in the process depriving the juveniles themselves of rights under the 1983 Act to challenge their detention or treatment. This article discusses the recent cases of Re R (a minor) (wardship: medical treatment) ([1991J 4AU E.R. 177, as confirmed in the House of Lords) and R. v. Kirklees Metropolitan Council, ex p. C(The Times February 10, 1992) and their potential impact in creating a legal framework of powers of informal compulsion which carry none of the safeguards against abuse provided in the Mental Health Act 1983.