§ Mr. WigleyTo ask the Secretary of State for Health what representations he has received during the past six months concerning the need to amend section 73 of the Mental Health Act 1983, relating to the discharge of part III patients; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. FreemanA number of representations have been received, all originating from the National Union of Townswomen's Guilds, or its local branches.
The effect of an amendment to the legislation such as is proposed would be to turn the clock back to the situation as it was before the 1983 Act. I am not aware of any widely held view that this would be desirable. This particular aspect of the change in the law, promulgated in 1983, followed the judgment given on 5 November 1981 in X v United Kingdom, in which the European Court of Human Rights held that under article 5(4) of the European convention, a detained patient has a right of periodic access to a judicial body to determine the justification for continued detention. A mental health review tribunal, having an advisory power only, did not constitute a judicial body.