UMDs remain and are henceforth governed by the provisions of ordinary law concerning
treatment without consent. The interministerial directive (instruction interministérielle) of
15th September 2014 17, only answers the demands set out by the CGLPL in a very partial manner.
Indeed, the directive provides that: “as far as regulatory provisions with regard to UMDs
(articles R. 3222-3 to R. 3222-8 of the CSP) are concerned, they remain for the most part
applicable but may rapidly change in the short-term. However, the Council of State case law (CE,
13th March 2013, SCP PEIGNOT, no. 354976) henceforth has to be taken into consideration,
according to which: “The representative of the State for the French department in which a
person is hospitalised by court order is competent to decide alone, by virtue of their special
police powers, upon the transfer of this person to another institution, even if the latter is located
in another department. There is no need for the representative of the State for the latter
department to take any measure of hospitalisation by court order for the transfer procedure”.
This decision invalidates article R. 3222-2.”
Since neither of the two recommendations previously addressed to the
authorities by the Contrôleur Général have received any precise response, the
situation of the patients concerned has scarcely improved. Certain patients
are still waiting for their transfer to a site providing greater respect for the
maintenance of their family ties and promoting favourable development of
their state of health.
2.5
Opinion of the Contrôleur général des lieux de privation de liberté of
14th October 2011 concerning the use of videoconferencing with
regard to persons deprived of liberty
The Contrôleur Général published an Opinion concerning the use of videoconferencing
with regard to persons deprived of liberty in the Journal Officiel of 9th November 2011. By means
of this Opinion, the CGLPL recalled that although the use of videoconferencing may sometimes
be an unavoidable palliative measure, it should not in any case come to be used as a convenience
without further qualification, and should above all be specifically supervised.
The Annual Report for 2013 (cf. § 6 of section 2) examined the creation of courtrooms
within psychiatric treatment institutions with a view to ending the use of videoconferencing. The
provisions of article 14 of the Act of 27th September 2013, amending certain provisions resulting
from Act no. 2011-803 of 5th July 2011 concerning the rights and protection of persons subject to
psychiatric treatment and the practical details of their care and treatment, came into effect on 1st
September 2014.
This represents a move in the right direction, although the number of visits
conducted in 2013 and 2014 does not yet enable an overall Opinion to be
given with regard to the practical application of the requirements provided
for by law. Certain hospitals have taken measures to fit out courtrooms in
accordance with both legal requirements and patients’ needs; in certain
urban centres, patients are to be transported from their places of
hospitalisation to a single courtroom: the improvement intended by the Act
needs to be verified.
17
Interministerial directive (instruction interministérielle) DGS/MC4/DGOS/DLPAJ no. 2014-262 of
15th September 2014 concerning the application of Act no. 2013-869 of 27th September 2013 for the amendment of
certain provisions arising from Act no. 2011-803 of 5th July 2011 concerning the rights and protection of persons
subject to psychiatric treatment and the practical details of their care and treatment, published in the Bulletin officiel
Santé – Protection sociale – Solidarité no. 2014/10 of 15th November 2014.
30
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