프랑스의 공중보건법상 비자의(非自意) 정신치료 제도의 특징과 시사점

With the enactment of the “Mental Disorders Act” of June 30, 1838, France has established the current system of voluntary hospitalization, hospitalization at the request of a third party, and hospitalization by administrative agencies. In 2011, the “Act on the rights and protection of persons undergoing psychiatric care and the terms and conditions of their care” which formed the basis of the management of mentally ill patients, was enacted, replacing the old law, and mandating the judicial review system for involuntary hospitalization. The implication of the French mental health legislation is that the protection of the rights of persons subject to involuntary psychiatric treatment is guaranteed in three stages. The triple guarantee system is composed of experts, the administrative agency, and the judiciary, and detailed procedures for mental treatment of each stage are clearly stipulated in the law, ensuring procedural rights as well as objectivity and fairness. Expert examination judges the necessity for involuntary psychiatric treatments through diagnosis and opinions of psychiatrists. In addition, the administrative agency's examination of the suitability for involuntary psychiatric treatments is carried out by the head of the treatment facility, the provincial governor (in Paris, the head of the Paris Police Department), and the department psychotherapy committee. They are complementary to each other within the scope of each authority and play a role of check. Cases concerning involuntary psychiatric treatments are handled by Liberties and Detention Judges. The significance of judicial review in the process of involuntary psychiatric treatments is that it is an independent and objective review and decision by a third party. In addition, in the decision-making process, the argument between the claimant and the subject is guaranteed, and the decision of the judge can be appealed to the appeals court.