ABSTRACT

This book brings together contributions from twenty-three world-leading scholars and commentators that address a range of contemporary and pressing international themes in mental health, disability and criminal law. The authors use the work of internationally renowned academic, Emeritus Professor Bernadette McSherry, as a springboard to reflect on recent developments in these areas of law and to anticipate the future directions they may take. In doing so, they aim to inform and inspire a new generation of mental health, disability and criminal law scholars, advocates and reformers.

The book is divided into four substantive sections: reforming mental health and disability law; regulating coercion and restrictive practices; improving access to justice and the criminal law; and transforming mental health law. It also includes an introduction from the editors and an afterword from Emeritus Professor McSherry.

The book is aimed at regulators, policymakers, lawyers, clinicians, consumer advocates and academics who are interested in the urgent and contentious issues surrounding the reform and development of mental health, disability and criminal law. It will help them understand the key issues and problems and presents suggestions for reform. The book is interdisciplinary and international in its focus.

Chapters 9 and 13 of this book are freely available as a downloadable Open Access PDF at https://www.taylorfrancis.com under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivatives (CC-BY-NC-ND) 4.0 license.

part I|69 pages

Reforming Mental Health and Disability Law

chapter 2|23 pages

Making the Future Happen

Law Reform Lessons From the Victorian Royal Commission

chapter 4|16 pages

Benefitting From Hindsight

What the Mental Capacity Act and Its Implementation Can Teach Us About CRPD Implementation

part III|67 pages

Improving Access to Justice and the Criminal Law

chapter 9|25 pages

Whydunnit?

Causal Explanations in Sentencing Offenders With Mental Health Problems

part IV|94 pages

Transforming Mental Health Law

chapter 12|15 pages

Challenging the Foundations of Mental Health Law

Using Articles 12 and 14 of the CRPD as a Framework to Deconstruct and Reimagine Mental Health Law

chapter 13|23 pages

The Digital Turn in Mental Health and Disability Law

Actuarial Traditions and AI Futures of Risk Assessment From a Human Rights Perspective

chapter 14|31 pages

Regulating Rights

Developing a Human Rights and Mental Health Regulatory Framework

chapter 15|20 pages

Standing Up Against the Weight of History

The Importance of Lived Experience in the Mental Health Context

chapter |3 pages

Afterword