Electroconvulsive Therapy, Law and Human rights PBU & NJE v Mental Health Tribunal [2018] VSC 564, Bell J

Abstract

© 2019, The Australian and New Zealand Association of Psychiatry, Psychology and Law. In a number of jurisdictions, a senior clinician or a tribunal is enabled to order ECT when a person does not have the capacity to give informed consent to the treatment and in the circumstances there is no less restrictive way for the patient to be treated. In Victoria, Australia, there have been a number of challenges to orders permitting ECT orders made by the Mental Health Tribunal. In a landmark decision by Bell J of the Victorian Supreme Court, PBU & NJE v Mental Health Tribunal [2018] VSC 564, on appeal from the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal (‘VCAT’), in turn on appeal from the Mental H..