RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 Commentary: Civil Commitment and Its Reform
JF Journal of the American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law Online
JO J Am Acad Psychiatry Law
FD American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law
SP 48
OP 51
VO 43
IS 1
A1 Simpson, Alexander I. F.
YR 2015
UL http://jaapl.org/content/43/1/48.abstract
AB Internationally, civil commitment laws have gone through substantial reforms in the past 50 years. Discernible shifts from the medically paternalistic to the excessively legalistic may be giving way to a blending of legislative intent under the rubric of therapeutic jurisprudence. In the light of those international movements, Shao and Xie describe how China's new mental health law shows the impact of these international and local influences on the development and practice of mental health law in China. The new Law was passed in 2012. It sets a broad vision for mental health services and mental health promotion in Chinese society as well as providing the legal framework for civil commitment. Practicalities of implementation may be highly significant in the success of the legislation.