History
The Madhouses Act 1774 created a Commission of the Royal College of Physicians with powers to grant licences to premises housing "lunatics" in London; Justices of the Peace were given these powers elsewhere in England and Wales. Failure to gain a licence resulted in a hefty fine. Admission to a "madhouse" required certification signed by a doctor, and lists of detained residents became available for public inspection. This Act was later considered ineffectual and was repealed by the Madhouses Act 1828, itself repealed shortly afterwards by the Madhouses Act 1832. These Acts altered the composition of the Commission in several ways, such as including barristers in addition to doctors.
The Lunacy Act 1845 and the County Asylums Act 1845 together gave mental hospitals or "asylums" the authority to detain "lunatics, idiots and persons of unsound mind". Each county was compelled to provide an asylum for "pauper lunatics", who were removed from workhouses into the aforementioned asylums. The "Lunatic Commission" was established to monitor asylums, their admissions, treatments and discharges.
Both these acts were repealed by the Lunacy Act 1890. This introduced "reception orders", authorising detention in asylums. These orders had to be made by a specialised Justice of the Peace and lasted one year. Thereafter, detention could be renewed at regular intervals by submission of a medical report to the Lunacy Commission. The Mental Deficiency Act 1913 renamed the Lunacy Commission the "Board of Control" and increased the scope of its powers. The functions of the Board of Control were subsequently altered by the Mental Treatment Act 1930 and the National Health Service Act 1946.
The Lunacy Act 1890 was repealed following World War II by the Mental Health Act 1959. This Act abolished the Board of Control, and aimed to provide informal treatment for the majority of people suffering from mental disorders, whilst providing a legal framework such that such people could, if necessary, be detained in hospital against their will. It also aimed to make local councils responsible for the care of mentally disordered people who did not require hospital admission.
However, like its predecessors, the 1959 Act did not provide clarity as to whether a legal order to detain a mentally disordered person in hospital also empowered the hospital to impose medical treatment against the person's wishes. It had become clear by the 1970s that a specific legal framework for medical treatments such as psychiatric medications, electroconvulsive therapy and psychosurgery was needed in order to balance the rights of detained persons with society as a whole.
The Mental Health Act 1983 came into effect in September that year, and was amended in 1995 and 2007.
Read more about this topic: Mental Health Act 1983
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