- 63 5. Safeguards relating to involuntary hospitalisation and discharge 147. Law 2071/92, concerned with involuntary placement of patients, states that involuntary placement shall not exceed six months, unless a special committee of three psychiatrists decides otherwise. After the first three months of hospitalisation a patient is assessed as to whether s/he should to be kept in hospital for a further three month period or be immediately discharged. Representatives of the Ministry of Health informed the delegation that normally all involuntary patients were discharged before the end of the six month period; indeed, newly admitted involuntary patients at Corfu Psychiatric Hospital remained on average for 21 days, after which they were discharged. However, a significant part of the patient population in the hospital consisted of elderly, chronic patients who had been hospitalised for longer periods, some of them on an involuntary basis. The CPT's delegation found that with respect to these latter patients, in particular, the obligatory three month review and the discharge after six months had not always been carried out rigorously. The CPT recommends that the Greek authorities ensure that Law 2071/92 is scrupulously implemented. Further, the CPT would like to be informed whether there is an automatic review at regular intervals of the need to continue the placement of patients who remain in hospital, on an involuntary basis, beyond six months. 148. Patients should, as a matter of principle, be placed in a position to give their free and informed consent to treatment. The admission of a person to a psychiatric establishment on an involuntary basis should not be construed as authorising treatment without consent. It follows that every competent patient, whether voluntary or involuntary, should be given the opportunity to refuse treatment or any other medical intervention. Any derogation from this fundamental principle should be based upon law and only relate to clearly and strictly defined exceptional circumstances. In the light of the above, the CPT was very concerned to learn from the delegation’s contacts with various interlocutors that involuntary placement was currently understood as authorising involuntary treatment without the patient’s consent. If this understanding properly reflects the law, the CPT recommends the Greek authorities take the appropriate measures, including amending the legislation on psychiatry, to ensure that involuntary treatment is clearly circumscribed in law, in light of the above remarks. 149. A number of patients on the Gousis ward were unable to inform the delegation whether they had been admitted as voluntary or involuntary patients; even staff members were apparently unaware of the legal status of certain of the patients. Further, the delegation was informed by staff that, at times, the legal status of a patient was changed without the patient being informed. The CPT would like to receive the comments of the Greek authorities on the above remarks.