[Normative and legal procedure prerequisites in the commitment of psychiatric patients in relation to Paragraph 6 of the Commitment Law of East Germany].

An analysis has revealed the following typical mistakes in the application of article 6 of the Commitment Act: Commitment is often not preceded by an interview with the patient. Many of the patients committed under article 6 would have agreed to hospitalisation anyway. In most cases, the reasons given for commitment under the Act are inadequate and too vague. The patients are not usually given the commitment order in writing. The district medical officers often fail to inform the local councils or the state attorney. The patients are very rarely instructed of their rights. In many cases the demands placed on the hospital responsible for treatment are inadmissible, such as commitment to closed wards or requests for indefinite hospitalisation.