Mental health law takes effect next month

The new Mental Health Law, which abolishes the possibility of automatically extending the hospitalization of innocent people and allows involuntary hospitalization, was published this Friday in Diário da República and will come into force in a month.

The new law adopted on the 10th by the President of the Republic, which pointed out to him “the lack of compaction of certain concepts and legal figures”, changes the paradigm of the approach to people in need of psychiatric help, and determines that after serving their sentence for the crime for which they were convicted, those who are not responsible should be released.

The amendments also allow involuntary hospitalization in cases where a person in dire need of medical care refuses to receive it.

Despite the doubts expressed, Marcelo Rebelo de Souza explained that he is adopting the decree “hoping that this regulatory framework will contribute to better protection of the rights and provision of medical care for people with mental illness, namely with regard to the existence of support structures for these patients in all circumstances.”

This law, which replaces legislation that has been in place for about 20 years, increases the number of mental health teams to 40 (currently 10).

The final text of the law was approved at the final global vote on May 26, and only the PS was voted in it. PSD, Chega, Iniciativa Liberal, PCP and BE voted against, while PAN and Livre abstained.

At the time of the approval of the final text in Parliament, Minister of Health Manuel Pizarro believed that the law emphasized “a humanistic vision as an essential aspect of excellent health care, focusing on the concepts of autonomy, dignity, participation, empowerment and recovery” of the individual in need of mental health care.

In practice, the diploma focuses on the definition, foundations and goals of policy in this area, establishes the rights and obligations of persons in need of psychiatric care, regulates the limitations of these rights and guarantees the protection of freedom and autonomy.

The published law is part of a reform in mental health that the government wants to complete by the end of 2026, which provides 88 million euros in this area for investments available under the Recovery and Resilience Plan (PRR).

In May, the national mental health policy coordinator, Miguel Xavier, called for a doubling of the funds provided for this area, given that the value included in the PRR was not “bazooka” but “slingshot”.