By Afiya France, PhD Student, The Law School, University of Bristol
The UK government is forging through on its declared commitment to modernise the 1983 Mental Health Act (MHA) for the 21st century. This key piece of legislation sets out a legal framework for the detention and compulsory treatment of people with a mental health disorder. The Draft Mental Health Bill 2022 was published in June 2022, and pre-legislative scrutiny by a Joint Select Committee is ongoing. This Draft Bill follows the government’s white paper, Reforming the Mental Health Act which incorporated the majority of the recommendations of an Independent Review . (more…)