Place concerned Topic Specific issue Notification of rights Access to information Citizen's Advice Centre Legal information and advice Oversight Mental healthcare institution Lawyer Courtroom JLD hearing Hospitalised detainees 136 Recommendation It is necessary to come up with a protocol of the terms of informing a patient and notifying him/her on the measures of treatment without consent. The issuing of this information requires time, consideration and great care. The CGLPL recommends that the Ministry of Health should draw up a model document explaining the various different types of hospitalisation without consent and the means of remedy open to patients, in simple terms. Every patient must be informed about the rules of living in the hospital and any information useful to his stay, via a welcome booklet or by displaying the rules in each room. Hotlines for access to legal advice, based on the model used in certain institutions, must be generalised. The effectiveness of the patients’ access to legal advice and to information must be subject to systematic oversight by the supervisory authorities of hospitals and common law visits. The board showing the Bar association must systematically be displayed in the institutions. Specific training for lawyers in assisting patients hospitalised without consent is rare. However, when it exists, it is observed that the development of the competence of the defence forces the administration to strengthen its own arguments, which most often back the decisions of the judge. The initiative of specific training for lawyers must be encouraged, but it must be organised such that it does not change the hearing of the JLD into a dispute with the institution on one side and the patient on the other. The remuneration of the lawyers must be reviewed, as it is lower as compared to those handling other litigations. The public authorities must, in consultation with each Bar of lawyers, ensure the removal of local obstacles to the presence of lawyers at the hearings of the liberty and custody judge. The difficulties in permanently assigning a courtroom that complies with the standards set by law are not valid to justify discontinuing mobile hearings. Detainee patients are often handcuffed during the journey and are sometimes kept handcuffed even during the hearing, while police officers attend the hearing. Simply being a prisoner, without any personalised and formal risk analysis, cannot justify such a practice. Strict directives must therefore be given by the Minister of Justice for the proper use of means of restraint during the hearings of the liberty and custody judge. Chapter 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1