§ Mr. Moonmanasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) what consideration the inter-departmental working party is giving to proposals for reform of Sections 60 and 65 of the Mental Health Act contained in the MIND special report, Volume 2 of "A Human Condition";
(2) in view of the fact that the European Commission of Human Rights is now considering whether Section 65 of the Mental Health Act 1959 is in violation of Article 5 of the European Convention on Human Rights, whether the Inter-Departmental Working Party on the Mental Health Act is considering any fundamental reforms of that section.
§ Mr. JohnThe interdepartmental committee of officials is considering MIND's proposals, together with other proposals made by Lord Butler's Committee on Mentally Abnormal Offenders concerning Sections 60 and 65, in the course of its review of the Mental Health Act 1959. The Government's conclusions on the need for amendment of the Act generally will be published in due course in a White Paper.
If the eventual findings of the European Commission of Human Rights on 286W the complaints at present before it should have any implications for United Kingdom law and practice governing restricted patients, these will, of course, be carefully considered.