Global Court Momentum Builds Against Forced Psychiatry; CCHR Urges U.S. ReformItaly's top court rules part of involuntary psychiatric law unconstitutional; CCHR urges U.S. to adopt legal protections as WHO, UN, and global courts move to eliminate coercive mental health practices.
The Citizens Commission on Human Rights International (CCHR), based in Los Angeles, hailed the decision as an essential step towards achieving human rights in the mental health field. CCHR said its chapters worldwide are intensifying efforts to urge courts and lawmakers to follow suit and ultimately abolish forced psychiatric hospitalization and treatment. The group called on the United States to replicate—and expand—such protections. In the U.S., the practice of forced psychiatric detainment has sharply escalated. According to David Cohen, professor of social welfare at UCLA's Luskin School, involuntary psychiatric detentions have increased at a rate three times higher than population growth in recent years.[2] A 2023 report, Involuntary Civil Commitment: Fourteenth Amendment Due Process Protections, posted on Congress.gov, underscores that such commitments "implicate constitutional concerns and constraints under the Fourteenth Amendment Due Process Clause of the U.S. Constitution," While the Italian court ruling is significant, CCHR notes that it stops short of banning Trattamento Sanitario Obbligatorio (TSO), the Italian legal framework for compulsory psychiatric hospitalization.[ Coercion in mental health settings has increasingly drawn global condemnation. Critics argue that forced psychiatric treatment fundamentally violates human dignity and autonomy. A 2023 study in BMC Psychiatry concluded that coercion is incompatible with human rights and "should be avoided as far as possible."[5] Italy's decision follows another recent victory involving CCHR efforts in Europe. In Hungary, CCHR collaborated with legal experts to secure a Constitutional Court ruling that found Parliament had failed to provide legal avenues for individuals unlawfully detained in psychiatric facilities to seek compensation. Following sustained advocacy by CCHR Hungary, others, the Court and the President of the Republic, a new regulation was enacted on December 20, 2024, guaranteeing— CCHR's international work continues to gain recognition. On June 2, 2025, New Zealand CCHR volunteer Victor Boyd was appointed a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit by King Charles III. The honor recognized his 50-year campaign with CCHR to expose coercive psychiatric practices, particularly those used against children at the now-closed Lake Alice Psychiatric Hospital's Child and Adolescent Unit. Boyd's relentless advocacy through CCHR helped prompt a formal government acknowledgement of the abuse and torture carried out by a psychiatrist heading the unit. The award is endorsed by the New Zealand Prime Minister and the Parliamentary Cabinet.[8] Momentum is also growing at the global policy level. The World Health Organization (WHO) released its Guidance on Mental Health Policy and Strategic Action Plan in April 2025, recommending the prohibition of involuntary psychiatric practices—including forced hospitalization and treatment—and affirming individuals' right to refuse such treatment. The WHO and the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) have repeatedly called for mental health systems to move away from coercion and adopt rights-respecting, support-based alternative approaches. These international reforms are grounded in the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD), which Italy ratified in 2009. The CRPD explicitly rejects coercive interventions in mental health care. Its General Comment No. 1 affirms that all individuals— Since its founding in 1969 by the Church of Scientology and professor of psychiatry, Dr. Thomas Szasz, CCHR has worked alongside survivors, whistleblowers, and international legal experts to expose systemic psychiatric abuse and advocate for transparent, non-coercive mental health care. The growing international rulings, government acknowledgements, and awards highlight a turning tide—and CCHR says now is the time for the United States to implement legal reforms that respect the rights, liberty, and dignity of all individuals in mental health settings. Sources: [1] "CCHR Encourages Italy to Complete Full Mental Health Reform After Court Ruling on Forced Treatment," European Times, 5 June 2025, europeantimes.news/ [2] www.einnews.com/ [3] Hannah-Alise Rogers, "Involuntary Civil Commitment: Fourteenth Amendment Due Process Protections," [4] "CCHR Encourages Italy to Complete Full Mental Health Reform After Court Ruling on Forced Treatment," European Times, 5 June 2025, europeantimes.news/ [5] Eva Brekke, et al., "Patients' experiences with coercive mental health treatment in Flexible Assertive Community Treatment: a qualitative study," BMC Psychiatry, 18 Oct. 2023, pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/ [6] Beate Wild, et al., "Reduction of coercion in psychiatric hospitals: how can this be achieved?" The Lancet, Dec. 2023, www.thelancet.com/ [7] www.cchrint.org/ [8] "King's Birthday Honours: Advocate dedicates award to survivors of abuse in care," RNZ, 2 June 2025, www.rnz.co.nz/ [9] "CCHR Encourages Italy to Complete Full Mental Health Reform After Court Ruling on Forced Treatment," European Times, 5 June 2025, europeantimes.news/ End
|