Some thoughts on the proposed Mental Health Act

Our thoughts on the proposed Mental Health Act are a product of us working together for a considerable period of time and feeling that we have something to offer jointly by bringing together our legal and psychiatric perspectives.The main thrust of our thoughts is that we have a fundamental problem with the reform of mental health law as proposed. We are beginning to question whether there is any need for a mental health act at all. In any case, legislation which interferes with the freedoms of others should, we believe, be predicated on the libertarian model as espoused by John Stuart Mill