Accidental imprisonment in a psychiatric hospital constitutes an improper detention of the convict
JUDGMENT
V.Κ. v. Russia 04-04-2017 (no. 9139/08)
SUMMARY
Right to liberty and security. Unlawful detention. Accidental confinement in a psychiatric hospital. The inadvertent placement of the applicant in a psychiatric hospital which diagnosed his mental disorder and submitted a request for a judicial decision to involuntarily imprison him in a psychiatric clinic, coupled with the resulting ineffective legal representation during the relevant court proceedings, was judged by the Court as contrary to Article 5 § 1 (e), ie illegal detention of the convict.
PROVISION
Article 5 par. 1e
PRINCIPAL FACTS
The applicant, V. K., is a Russian national who was born in 1946 and lives in Saint Petersburg (Russia).
The case concerned his involuntary placement in a psychiatric hospital.
On 3 April 2007 V. K., who has a history of mental illness, was admitted to a psychiatric hospital
without his consent. The grounds for his admission were repeated, groundless telephone calls to the
police and to the emergency medical services as well as threatening behaviour to ambulance staff.
The hospital diagnosed him with a mental disorder, and applied for a court order for his involuntary
placement. After a hearing on the case on 9 April 2007, the first-instance court, having heard the
doctors’ and prosecutor’s opinions as well as V.K.’s court-appointed lawyer – who considered
inpatient treatment to be reasonable, granted the application. V.K. appealed, complaining that his
lawyer had failed to represent him properly as she had maintained a conflicting position to his. The
appeal was summarily dismissed in August 2007. In the meantime, V.K. had been discharged from
hospital after his mental health improved.
THE DECISION OF THE COURT
Relying on Article 5 § 1 (e) (right to liberty and security), V.K. complained about his involuntary
admission to hospital, and in particular about ineffective legal representation during the related
court proceedings.
Violation of Article 5 § 1
Just satisfaction: EUR 1,500 (non-pecuniary damage)
