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Psychiatric treatment of mentally ill persons in custody – legal, medical and ethical issues

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  13 August 2021

V. Sendula Jengic  and
A. Jengic Bujan
V. Sendula Jengic*
Affiliation:
Department For Forensic Psychiatry, Rab Psychiatric Hospital, Rab, Croatia
A. Jengic Bujan
Affiliation:
Jengic Bujan, Law Office, Rijeka, Croatia
*
*Corresponding author.

Abstract

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Introduction

The most recent legal regulations in the Republic of Croatia govern the process of criminal procedure for persons in pre-trial detention who have a temporary mental disturbance for which psychiatric treatment is needed. The Prison Director is in this case obliged to seek psychiatric treatment for such persons who are then hospitalized in a psychiatric institution instead of a prison hospital or prison that meets the requirements prescribed by law for the accommodation of pre-trial detainees. Forensic departments of the five psychiatric hospitals in Croatia accept mentally incapable persons subject to court order, but not persons in custody, i.e. in pre-trial detention. Pre-trial detention is a measure imposed in the previous proceedings to ensure that the person to whom the measure is imposed is present during the pre-trial stage and the hearing stage, i.e. after the final judgment has been rendered until it becomes final. According to Croatian laws, a person who has been sentenced to pre-trial detention and who has mental disorders is entitled to a range of rights that must be respected, and at the same time, there are strict restrictions in exercising those same rights for the reason of sentencing to pre-trial detention.

Objectives

The article points to several problems that have arisen in practice due to the under-regulation of pre-trial detention measures.

Methods

Perspective, opinion, and commentary article.

Results

Perspective, opinion, and commentary article.

Conclusions

The authors discuss legal, medical, and ethical issues, but also the financial framework of such a process.

Keywords

forensic psychiatrypre-trial detentionMental Health Acthospital mental health services
Type
Abstract
Information
European Psychiatry , Volume 64 , Special Issue S1: Abstracts of the 29th European Congress of Psychiatry , April 2021 , pp. S380
Creative Commons
Creative Common License - CCCreative Common License - BY
This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution licence (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted re-use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Copyright
© The Author(s), 2021. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of the European Psychiatric Association
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