From Mad in Norway: “Inger-Mari Eidsvik and Merete Nesset have experience being force-treated from 1988 to 2016, and are now suing the state of Norway at the Ministry of Health and Care Services with allegations of human rights violations in the implementation of forced ‘mental health care’ (forced medication, isolation and restraint). This is the first time the state has been charged with human rights violations in connection with compulsory psychiatric treatment in Norway.
The Psychiatry and Judicial Protection Committee in ICJ-Norway has established a pro bono group for human rights cases related to the use of coercion in mental health care. The lawyers assisting Eidsvik and Nesset in their cases are affiliated with this pro bono group. ICJ-Norway is the Norwegian branch of the International Commission of Jurists (ICJ), an NGO with a secretariat in Geneva.
The court proceedings are scheduled for week 25 in Oslo District Court. It shall in the first instance be decided whether the cases are of legal interest, whether they are obsolete, and whether the cases are to be tried together or separately. Three days have been set aside from 20 June, with one day in reserve. The case is brought before an open court.
The issues are of great importance. Several thousand people are forcibly treated in ‘mental health care’ every year, and unfortunately very few have the opportunity to have their case assessed by the court. Through these cases, the focus will be on the state’s responsibility for the concrete observance of human rights in psychiatry. It is about the right not to be subjected to inhuman treatment, and that fundamental human rights must protect us, also in mental health care.
Both Eidsvik and Nesset, and the team helping them, are willing to lead the cases all the way through the court system, and further internationally if necessary.”
Article is in Norwegian, but readers can use the Google Translate extension to translate the page into English. Read an English translation of the summons here.
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