The law on mental health that was adopted in 1997 does not comply with the standards concerning children’s rights. It does not stipulate efficient mechanisms for protecting and promoting the mental health of the population or for maintaining mental wellbeing and also does not ensure the observance of the personal rights and freedoms of persons with mental and behavioral disorders, said Maia Bănărescu, ombudswoman for children’s rights.
Presenting a thematic report on the observance of the rights of children with mental disorders in a news conference hosted by IPN, Maia Bănărescu said the old law on mental health contains abusive provisions on hospitalization and use of treatment without the free consent of the persons or the legal representative. The law does not guarantee the use of the least restrictive care and treatment methods towards persons with mental and behavioral disorders both in psychiatric hospitals and outside them.
“I appreciate the initiative of the MPs who worked out a new law, taking the population’s mental health as a priority. We, the Ombudsperson’s Office, formulated opinions after analyzing the law and some of these were included in this bill that is to be debated and adopted in Parliament. We will also present other findings,” stated Maia Bănărescu.
She noted that the improvement of the legal framework, development of services, training of parents in communicating with the children, creation of the service for patents based on the example of the social service “Respiro” can help improve the situation as regards the observance of the right of children with mental and behavioral disorders.
Maia Bănărescu said that the status of psychologist needs to be regulated. “The psychologist is one of the pillars, one of the main specialists to whom the children go and this needs to offer practically one of the main services – support in rehabilitator and not only.”
The report authors recommend assessing the legislation for offering additional guarantees to children with mental and behavioral disorders in the context of the implementation of the provisions of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and the recommendations of the ombudswoman for children’s rights.
Note: IPN News Agency gives the right of reply to persons who consider they were touched by the news items produced based on statements of the organizers of the given news conference, including by facilitating the organization of another news conference in similar conditions.
