[A Forensic Psychiatric Perspective on the Draft Mental Health Act of Turkey in Light of Similar Laws and Practice in a Foreign Jurisdiction].

Abstract

Objective: Designated Acts for issues related to mental health are in force in many countries throughout the world. A mental health act is also expected to be approved in Turkey soon. Under the leadership of the Psychiatric Association of Turkey, non-governmental organizations operating in the field of mental health has contributed to the emergence of a comprehensive draft. The current draft, after extensive discussion and reiterations for almost a decade, was brought to a state close to its final form and accepted as a draft bill, ready to be legislated in the Turkish Grand National Assembly. This review will discuss the potential impact of the law in matters involving Forensic Psychiatry, and present our recommendations.

Method: Current draft, which has not yet been finalized, was compared to similar statutes in Massachusetts, USA, and potential benefits and pitfalls were discussed in light of experience with these laws in this jurisdiction.

Results: The draft introduces several new concepts and practices which have never existed in Turkey before. It also attempts to organize some of the existing de facto clinical practices in a uniform manner. As a whole, it appears to be in compliance with human rights and related international treaties. However, it is likely that some of the sections might have compliance issues in daily practice.

Conclusion: In this review, we aimed to draw attention to a number of issues, based on our experience in Massachusetts, USA, where similar laws have been in force for a very long time. Rather than literally comparing the statutes in both jurisdictions, we attempted to emphasize positive aspects as well as likely problems that we might encounter should Turkish draft be legislated in the present form.