Salute mentale e privazione della libertà personale: prospettive di diritto internazionale dei diritti umani

The situation of persons affected by mental illness who are deprived of their personal liberty can be addressed from the point of view of different internationally recognised human rights. These include the right to life, the right to adequate healthcare, the right to respect for personal and family life, the right to an effective remedy, the right to personal liberty and the right not to be subjected to inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment. Recognition of the latter has been understood by the European Court of Human Rights as implying an international obligation to provide adequate healthcare to persons with mental illness deprived of their personal liberty, in an obligation to adapt conditions of detention to the detainee’s state of health and, finally, in an obligation to put an end to detention if it is not compatible with the detainee’s state of health. Recent complaints against Italy have raised the issue of whether detention in prison of individuals suffering mental illness in violation of their human rights is the result of a structural problem requiring the adoption of remedies of a general nature; and the question of the national authorities’ margin of appreciation in deciding whether the applicant’s health condition is compatible with detention.