INVOLUNTARY TREATMENT OF PERSONS WITH MENTAL DISORDERS IN THE REPUBLIC OF SRPSKA - WHERE WERE WE AND WHERE ARE WE NOW?

Abstract

The first Law on the Protection of Persons with Mental Disorders of the Republic of Srpska was passed in 2004 and in it the social interest (endangering others) and vital interest (endangering oneself) are emphasized as indications for involuntary detention of a person for treatment, and the new Law of 2020 puts medical indication (health condition) in the foreground which is in line with the humanization of attitudes towards those persons. In this paper, special emphasis is placed on the analysis of the applicability of the first adopted Law critically from the aspect of the profession which implemented it. In the empirical research we conducted on the frequency of involuntary treatment in the institution for mental disorders of the highest health level, which receives patients from all over the Republic of Srpska, we show that our data are not different from data in other European countries, according to the frequency of involuntary detention, the type of disease and the socio-demographic data of persons forcibly detained and then accommodated.. However, when viewed from the aspect of the Law, not all articles were respected, because it was influenced by objective circumstances and the impossibility of implementing certain legal stipulations. A special problem was caused by the impossibility of imposing medical measures on insane persons by the legislator. It remains to be seen whether the greater reorientation of the new Law from 2020 towards professional medical recommendations will affect better respect for the rights of those persons, but also reduce the need for their involuntary detention. What we assume is that moving away from clear legal guidelines will be a stumbling block in its implementation.