Home / Crime and Justice / BC Court: Forced Mental Treatment Unconstitutional
BC Court: Forced Mental Treatment Unconstitutional
31 Jul
Summary
- Court ruled forced psychiatric treatment violates patient rights.
- B.C. has six months to amend its Mental Health Act.
- B.C. was unique in Canada for automatic treatment without consent.
The British Columbia Supreme Court has declared unconstitutional key aspects of the province's involuntary mental health care system, ruling that forced psychiatric treatment violates patients' rights.
Justice Lauren Blake found that provisions in the Mental Health Act infringed upon patients' Charter rights to equality, life, liberty, and security of the person. The province has been granted a six-month period to amend the legislation.
Blake's decision highlighted that B.C.'s system grants directors broad power to provide any psychiatric treatment to involuntary patients, unlike other Canadian jurisdictions that assess patient capacity. This ruling follows a decade-long legal challenge by the Council of Canadians with Disabilities (CCD), which argued the province's 'treatment first' model unjustly overrides individual autonomy and consent rights.
The court's decision specifically addressed the 'legal fiction' created by Form 5, which automatically deems involuntary patients incapable of consenting to treatment. Experts testified that some involuntarily detained patients are capable of informed consent, and that involving patients in their treatment leads to better outcomes.
