-9II. FACTS FOUND DURING THE VISIT AND ACTION PROPOSED A. Psychiatric establishments 1. Preliminary remarks (legal framework and establishments visited) 11. Under the 1992 law governing health establishments and involuntary hospitalisation,2 a patient can be hospitalised involuntarily only when he or she is suffering from a mental disorder and is incapable of taking decisions affecting his or her health, and failure to hospitalise the patient would be detrimental to his or her treatment or state of health. Alternatively, a person suffering from a mental disorder may be hospitalised in order to prevent him or her from committing acts of self-harm or inflicting harm on others.3 A spouse, parent, relative or guardian may apply for a person’s placement to the relevant district prosecutor (the “hearings prosecutor”); in their absence and in emergency cases, the hearings prosecutor may launch a placement procedure ex officio. Committal applications – or procedures launched ex officio – must be supported by medical opinions from two psychiatrists.4 Where the committal procedure is launched ex officio or the person refuses to submit voluntarily to a psychiatric assessment, the hearings prosecutor orders the person’s transfer to a public psychiatric hospital to undergo a psychiatric assessment; the person may not be held for longer than 48 hours pending the assessment. Within three days from ordering the transfer for assessment, the prosecutor must refer the patient’s case, accompanied by the two medical opinions, to the district court, which must convene within 10 days and either issue a motivated order for involuntary placement or order the patient’s discharge.5 Further details concerning the safeguards surrounding involuntary placement decisions are discussed at paragraphs 43 to 49. A reform of the law governing involuntary hospitalisation was launched in late 2017. The CPT trusts that the Greek authorities will, prior to finalising this reform, take due account of the CPT’s recommendations, in particular as regards legal safeguards relating to involuntary hospitalisation (see part 6 of this chapter). The Committee would like to be informed of progress in the drafting of the new law. 12. The CPT has noted that since its previous examination of psychiatric institutions in 2005, de-institutionalisation reforms, which began in the 1980s,6 have advanced steadily. Out of nine public civil psychiatric hospitals still functioning in 2005, only three remained open in 2018. The CPT’s delegation visited one of them, Dromokaiteio Psychiatric Hospital.7 2 3 4 5 6 7 Law 2071/1992. See also the CPT’s 1993 visit report (CPT/Inf (94) 20), paragraphs 218 to 223. Section 95 of Law 2071/1992. If a second psychiatrist’s opinion cannot be obtained, the second opinion can be supplied by a doctor with another related specialisation (Article 96, Law 2071/1992). Section 96 of Law 2071/1992. See the CPT’s 1993 visit report (CPT/Inf (94) 20), paragraphs 12, 197, 199 and 200. The other two are Dafni (also in the Attica area) and Thessaloniki Psychiatric Hospitals.