Mental Health Law Policy and Practice

Mental health law, at its heart, involves the forcible confinement and medication of some of society's most vulnerable people. With reference to recent cases and new legislation, Peter Bartlett and Ralph Sandland analyze the legal structure and functions of the mental health system, the problems inherent in characterizing mental health law, and the social and human rights issues of those who suffer from mental illness The legal issues described contain implied premises as to what it is to be a citizen, what the role of the state is for the vulnerable, and what the relative roles of law and medicine are in the regulation of control and deviance. Mental health law is an area of considerable legal and social complexity, and the authors challenge readers to question the system and the policies that have been developed.

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Peter Bartlett obtained his doctorate in 1993, and joined the School of Law at the University of Nottingham, where in April 2005 he was appointed to the Nottinghamshire Healthcare NHS Trust Chair in Mental Health Law. His major research and teaching interests lie in the areas of socio-legal history (particularly as it relates to queer studies and to mental health), and health care law (particularly mental health law).
Ralph Sandland teaches in the areas of family law, health care law and criminal justice. His research interests span these areas, as well as jurisprudence, feminist theory, and postmodern philosophy. Ralph is also a Co-ordinating Editor of the Journal Social and Legal Studies