ABSTRACT
Since the entry into force of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) in 2008, the call for the abolition of mental health law has ignited debate about the future of mental health law. This chapter provides an overview of the controversy and considers what vision of disability rights is contained in the CRPD and what it requires States Parties to do. Drawing on my recent book Mental Health Law: Abolish or Reform? (OUP, 2021), I argue that mental health law should be reformed rather than abolished by decreasing coercion and increasing social support. I also provide a summary of what I have called the ‘interpretive compass’ of the CRPD being a qualitative analysis of the concepts of dignity (including autonomy), equality and non-discrimination and participation and how that can assist in understanding the meaning of the CRPD and how it applies to the claims of abolitionists and the alternatives for reform, especially the Mental Capacity with Support Model.
