This paper discusses the services and treatments that are offered in Montenegro to persons who are mentally ill. A short history is given. The law on the protection of the rights of patients who are mentally ill is described, along with the regulations governing voluntary and forced treatment. An action plan for promoting mental health has been partly already realised but some of its aims still...

At the beginning of the 21st century there is widespread recognition that national and international health are inseparable. Societies are increasingly turning to innovative and diverse mechanisms of international health cooperation to gain control over the forces that are globalizing public health and related risk factors such as those outlined in this year’s World Health Report (1). Consequen...

By default, the courts are inventing health law. The law governing the American health system arises from an unruly mix of statutes, regulations, and judge-crafted doctrines conceived, in the main, without medical care in mind. Courts are ill-equipped to put order to this chaos, and until recently they have been disinclined to try. But political gridlock and popular ire over managed care have p...

Law Association for Asia and the Pacific) organised an interdisciplinary seminar at Madras on "The strategies for Professional Collaboration to Promote the Rights of the Mentally 111", which was attended by members of the legal and mental health profession. While an atmosphere of bonhomie prevailed, there were also undercurrents of mutual discomfort. This discomfort was generally due to fears o...

Mental health law in Colombia has evolved over the past 50 years, in concert with worldwide recognition and prioritisation of mental healthcare. Laws and policies have become increasingly sophisticated to accommodate the ongoing transformations throughout Colombia's healthcare system and improvements in mental health screening, treatment and supportive care. Mental health law and policy develop...

In 2012 Ghana passed a new Mental Health Act, which aimed to create a new system of mental healthcare in Ghana. The Act includes provisions for the creation of a modern, community-based mental health system and for the protection of the rights of persons with mental disorders. This article discusses the implications of the Act and the progress which has been made towards its implementation.

CONTEXT Public health law has received considerable attention in recent years and has become an essential field in public health. Public health law research, however, has received less attention. METHODS Expert commentary. FINDINGS This article explores public health law research, defined as the scientific study of the relation of law and legal practices to population health. The article of...

Since its inception in September 2010, the Network for Public Health Law has responded to hundreds of public health legal technical assistance claims from around the country. Based on a review of these data, a series of major trends in public health practice and the law are analyzed, including issues concerning: the Affordable Care Act, tobacco control, emergency legal preparedness, health info...

Given the public health importance of law modernization, we undertook a comparative analysis of policy efforts in 4 states (Alaska, South Carolina, Wisconsin, and Nebraska) that have considered public health law reform based on the Turning Point Model State Public Health Act. Through national legislative tracking and state case studies, we investigated how the Turning Point Act's model legal la...