Deprivation of liberty and treatment in psychiatric institutions International standards and perspectives There is a set of international standards on involuntary placement and treatment of persons with mental disabilities. These standards and their interpretation vary considerably. Most international and regional human rights bodies accept deprivation of liberty and treatment without consent in certain circumstances (in particular the UN Human Rights Committee, the UN Committee against Torture, the UN Subcommittee on Prevention of Torture, the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture and the InterAmerican Commission on Human Rights), while the UN Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities recommends an absolute prohibition on deprivation of liberty based on disability, without exceptions. This position is supported by the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention in its Basic Principles and Guidelines on Remedies and Procedures on the Right of Anyone Deprived of His or Her Liberty by Arrest or Detention to Bring Proceedings Before Court, adopted in 2015. 5 Monitoring bodies such as the SPT and CPT accept involuntary placement, as a measure of last resort and subject to guarantees, that prevent arbitrary detention and ensure regular judicial review of the decision on deprivation of liberty.6 Similarly, the SPT and CPT accept treatment without consent as a measure of last resort. 5 6 Principle 20, UN Doc. A/HRC/30/37, 6 July 2015. For a detailed analysis of the international standards on the right to liberty and security of persons with disabilities, see the document published in 2015 for a meeting of experts organised by the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights: http://www.ohchr. org/EN/Issues/Disability/Pages/deprivationofliberty.aspx See SPT, Approach of the Subcommittee on Prevention of Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment regarding the rights of persons institutionalised and treated medically without informed consent, UN Doc. CAT/OP/27/2, 26 January 2016, §8, http://tbinternet.ohchr.org/_layouts/ treatybodyexternal/Download.aspx?symbolno=CAT/OP/27/2&Lang=en. See also CPT, CPT Standards, CPT/Inf/E (2002) 1-Rev.2015, §52: http://www.cpt.coe.int/en/ docsstandards.htm 15