Section one Context A wide-ranging independent review of mental health law in Scotland, announced in March 2019, is ongoing, having opened with a public consultation in February 2020.36 One particular area of interest is how legislation, including the Mental Health (Care and Treatment) (Scotland) Act 2003 and Mental Health (Scotland) Act 2015, meets modern human rights standards. The Independent review of learning disability and autism in the Mental Health Act in Scotland was published in December 2019 and recommended major changes to improve compliance with human rights law. These include the recommendations that learning disability and autism should be removed from the definition of ‘mental disorder’ in the Act, and that the law include the description of disability from the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. The review also recommends working towards a law that removes discrimination in detention and the introduction of a disability model to the criminal justice system to ensure fairness.37 VI of the Criminal Procedure (Scotland) Act 1995, whether in hospital or in the community. MWCS has commenced detailed scoping and plans to consult on options for the revised system, before developing a business case and implementation plan for submission in June 2021.38 Another important review in Scotland during the year was an independent review of forensic mental health services, looking at how services are provided to people in secure hospitals and people who are not in hospital but are at risk of offending or have offended, including those in prisons.39 In April 2019, the Sentencing Council for England and Wales commenced a consultation on draft overarching principles for sentencing people with mental ill health, developmental disorders and neurological impairments. The resulting guidance was published in July 2020 and came into force on 1 October 2020. The Scottish Government has also continued to coordinate work on the recommendations of the Review of the arrangements for investigating the deaths of patients being treated for mental disorder, published in December 2018, and the actions of its Suicide Prevention Action Plan from August 2018. As part of this work, MWCS continues to develop a system for investigating all deaths of patients who, at the time of death, were subject to an order either under the Mental Health (Care and Treatment) (Scotland) Act 2003 or part 36 37 38 39 For more information see the Scottish Mental Health Law Review website: https://www.mentalhealthlawreview.scot/ [accessed 24/08/2020] Scottish Government, December 2019, Independent review of learning disability and autism in the Mental Health Act https://webarchive.nrscotland.gov.uk/20200313205853/https://www.irmha.scot/ [accessed 24/08/20] MWCS Deaths in Detention Reviews webpage, https://www.mwcscot.org.uk/policy-and-research/deaths-detentionreviews [accessed 24/08/2020] Scottish Government, September 2019, Forensic mental health services independent review: terms of reference, https:// www.gov.scot/publications/forensic-mental-health-services-independent-review-terms-of-reference/ [accessed 24/08/2020] 19