Silove D, Doutney C, Pollock C
Aust N Z J Psychiatry. 1986 Sep;20(3):294-302. doi: 10.3109/00048678609158877.
New mental health legislation was enacted in New South Wales in 1983 and, although the reformed Act remains unproclaimed, some of the new procedures have already been introduced into psychiatric hospitals. The spirit of the Act is clearly aimed at protecting the rights of the mentally ill, who are often unable to act as their own advocates. To ensure this protection, it is now routine for solicitors to represent detained patients in their pleas for release. In this report we describe three recent cases that illustrate the difficulties that arise when solicitors and psychiatrists contest the legitimacy of detention orders. The atmosphere of judicial hearings is becoming increasingly adversarial and the public disclosure of sensitive information can provoke unnecessary distress in patients and their families. In the zeal to preserve civil rights, the special needs of psychiatric patients can be obscured, sacrificing the patients' rights to confidentiality, privacy and appropriate treatment. While the involuntary detention of patients is a matter of the utmost seriousness, current procedures, which seem to be modelled on those of the criminal legal system, are proving to be inappropriate to the needs of psychiatric patients.
新南威尔士州于1983年颁布了新的精神健康法。尽管改革后的法案尚未宣布生效，但一些新程序已在精神病医院推行。该法案的精神显然旨在保护精神疾病患者的权利，这些患者往往无法为自己辩护。为确保这种保护，现在律师代表被拘留患者申请释放已成为惯例。在本报告中，我们描述了最近的三个案例，这些案例说明了当律师和精神科医生对拘留令的合法性提出质疑时所产生的困难。司法听证会的气氛日益敌对，敏感信息的公开披露可能会给患者及其家人带来不必要的痛苦。在维护公民权利的热情中，精神病患者的特殊需求可能被忽视，牺牲了患者的保密权、隐私权和适当治疗权。虽然对患者的非自愿拘留是极其严肃的事情，但目前仿照刑事法律系统的程序被证明并不适合精神病患者的需求。
