Involuntary admission to hospital and treatment under mental health law inthe U. K. and Germany - Comparison of legal provisions and practical measures

Methods: The legal provisions concerning the admission to hospital, holding powers and compulsory treatment of mentally ill persons in Great Britain a nd Germany are compared and the underlying medicolegal conceptions analysed . Results: Whereas British law gives key powers to multiprofessional decisi on making and relatives, German law requests formal court decisions even in routine issues. This reflects a different understanding of individual righ ts and their protection. The German mental health law is motivated by the e xperiences of the totalitarian National Socialist regime. It tries to prote ct the patient's rights by restricting physicians, hospitals and family mem bers' influence. British law, on the other hand, assumes that experts as we ll as family members act benevolently in the patient's interest, prefers le ss formal mechanisms and expresses trust in professional ethics. Conclusion : Further research is necessary to analyse the situations in other countrie s and to investigate which of these approaches is the better one from the p oint of view of the mentally ill. This is even more important as in the lon g view European integration will touch these questions and will result in c onvergence of medicolegal issues.