Overall in this institution, providing information to hospitalised persons is not properly taken into
account: neither the welcome booklet nor the internal rules (not updated since 2008) are provided,
no information is given in the units on the opening hours of the cafeteria, prayer times or the
hotlines to various associations. Moreover, the information, when provided verbally, is not always
reliable.
In conclusion, the provisions of the Public Health Code appear to be complied with
formally, and yet do not fulfil their true goal. A supervision therefore seems to be necessary to
ensure the effective updating of the procedures in all of the institutions and to help in reforming it
through education; without this, the procedures will undoubtedly discreetly remain useless.
It is necessary to come up with a protocol of the terms of informing a patient and notifying
him 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 also be informed about the rules of living in the hospital and any information useful to
his/her stay, via a welcome booklet or by displaying the rules in each room. Finally, hotlines
for access to legal advice, based on the model used in certain institutions, must be generalised.
These actions require supervisors for the hospitals and must be subject to a systematic visit
via common law visits.
1.2
A hearing before the liberty and custody judge is systematic, but the
persons involved are still not sufficiently professional
The role of the liberty and custody judge is defined in Articles L. 3211-12-1 to L. 3211-12-6 of the
Public Health Code. The application of these provisions is systematic, but has certain practical
aspects that are not always legitimate.
Holding weekly hearings is the most common system, and the principle of mobile court
hearings was widespread even before the Law of 2013 made them mandatory. In several cases,
the judge holds one session per week in the institution. Therefore, patients only have to be
transported to court in case of an emergency or if they are summoned. The feedback is unanimous
in showing the benefits of mobile hearings for the peace of mind of the patients.
Difficulties mainly crop up when the institution is too far from the seat of the court, and
holding hearings is therefore considered to be too time-consuming by the judges. Several judges
therefore take turns in holding these hearings, which sometimes causes difficulties in acquiring the
necessary competence in psychiatry, which is somewhat complex and requires regular investment,
which is not possible when the judges are on continuous rotation. Moreover, certain patients refuse
to meet the JLD on the grounds that the latter may also be in charge of family affairs, “which could
have negative consequences on a patient, for example in the case of divorces”. In other places, a
single judge executes the functions of a JLD; hearings are regular and this makes the processing of
dossiers more fluid.
In certain remaining cases, there is no room reserved for the hearings of the
JLD within the healthcare institution. There are implementation difficulties
related to the standards set by law, even though in the court of first instance
(TGI), the hearings of the JLD occur in a small room similar to the meeting
rooms that exist in every hospital and even though, as we will shortly see,
other jurisdictions organise satisfactory mobile hearings without the imposed
standards being strictly complied with.
17
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