Of Unsound Mind? Mental Health Social Work and the European Convention on Human Rights

Abstract

The Human Rights Act 1998 adopted the European Convention on Human Rights as a benchmark by which people's fundamental rights are to be respected and enforced. Before the passing of this Act recourse to the Convention was possible, but remedies were not always effective and influence on legislation was variable. With the passing of the Human Rights Act 1998, legislation itself and all public bodies' activities are potential areas for scrutiny by the courts. The implications for professional practice in certain key areas are profound, these being compulsory intervention, detention and treatment, protection of the vulnerable, privacy, and rights to family life.

This article explores how the Convention may influence professional practice in the area of mental health. It does so by exploring key points of intervention at which professionals need to be mindful of the context for decision making set by the Convention and identifies a number of core principles for mental health practice already established by the European Court. The article is intended as an introduction to the role of the European Convention on Human Rights as it applies to practice and assumes no previous knowledge of case law or the Convention itself. It is not intended as an exhaustive account of the full implications of the Convention for all areas of practice.

Keywords:

• Human Rights Act 1998
• approved social worker
• mental health legislation
• courts

Notes

Robert Johns is Principal Lecturer in Social Work at the University of East London. He has over twenty-five years' experience of statutory social work in mental health, disability, children and families' work, youth justice, and work in the court setting as a children's guardian. He has taught applied social work law in higher education since 1986 on both professional qualifying and post-qualifying courses. This focus on law and social work practice has led to a number of specific teaching and research interests related to human rights, human rights legislation and its implications for social work. He also has an abiding interest in the history of social work, social policy and intercultural social work. He also has a keen interest in on-line learning in social work education.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Robert Johns

Robert Johns is Principal Lecturer in Social Work at the University of East London. He has over twenty-five years' experience of statutory social work in mental health, disability, children and families' work, youth justice, and work in the court setting as a children's guardian. He has taught applied social work law in higher education since 1986 on both professional qualifying and post-qualifying courses. This focus on law and social work practice has led to a number of specific teaching and research interests related to human rights, human rights legislation and its implications for social work. He also has an abiding interest in the history of social work, social policy and intercultural social work. He also has a keen interest in on-line learning in social work education.