The supervised community treatment order and the Human Rights Act 1998

Abstract

The introduction of the supervised community treatment order (CTO) was a major and significant change to the Mental Health Act 1983 following the 2007 amendments to the Act. Owing to paternalistic aspects of psychiatry, such new legislation brings with it the potential to impinge on the human rights of patients. Any new legislation must be read and implemented to be compliant with the Human Rights Act 1998. Of all the articles comprising the Human Rights Act, Article 3 (the right to freedom from inhuman and degrading treatment), Article 5 (the right to liberty and security) and Article 8 (the right to respect for family and private life, home and correspondence) are of particular relevance to CTOs. We consider here the potential implications of the use of CTOs with regard to the Human Rights Act.