Book Launch: Mental Health, Legal Capacity, and Human Rights

Join editors: Michael Ashley Stein, Harvard Law School, Faraaz Mahomed, Wits University, Vikram Patel, Harvard Medical School, Charlene Sunkel, Global Mental Health Peer Network and other contributing authors for the launch of their publication: Mental Health, Legal Capacity, and Human Rights. 

Since adoption of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and the interpretive General Comment 1, the topic of legal capacity in mental health settings has generated considerable debate in disciplines ranging from law and psychiatry to public health and public policy. With over 180 countries having ratified the Convention, the shifts required in law and clinical practice need to be informed by interdisciplinary and contextually relevant research as well as the views of stakeholders. With an equal emphasis on the Global North and Global South, this volume offers a comprehensive, interdisciplinary analysis of legal capacity in the realm of mental health. Integrating rigorous academic research with perspectives from people with psychosocial disabilities and their caregivers, the authors provide a holistic overview of pertinent issues and suggest avenues for reform.

• Features contributors from twenty-one countries, providing an international perspective
• Includes lived-experience accounts about legal capacity, supported decision-making, and involuntary mental health treatment
• Offers insights into law reform, clinical protocols and practices, and areas for advocacy.

Hosted by the GlobalMentalHealth@Harvard Initiative in collaboration with:

Global Mental Health Peer Network | Harvard Law School Project on Disability | Weatherhead Center for International Affairs, Harvard University | Human Rights Program, Harvard Law School | Cambridge University Press | CALS, University of Witswatersrand, Johannesburg