a The new mental health lawwhich ends the possibility of automatically prolonging the detention of persons not sentenced and accepts compulsory detention, was published today in the newspaper Diario da Repubblica and entered into force within one month.
new law, Issued on the tenth by the President of the Republicwho noted that “the lack of intensification of certain legal concepts and figures” changes the paradigm in dealing with people with special mental health care needs and defines that, after serving the sentence for the crime they were convicted of, Those who are not accountable must be set free.
The changes made also allow an extension compulsive detention In cases where a person is in dire need of health care, he refuses to receive it.
Despite the doubts raised, Marcelo Rebelo de Souza explained that he was issuing the decree “in the hope that this normative framework will contribute to better protection of rights and health care provision for people in need of mental health care, in particular with regard to the existence of support structures for these patients in all circumstances”.
This code that replaces Legislation in force for 20 yearsExpect Increase in mental health teams to 40 (currently 10)
Complete mental health reform by the end of 2026
The final text of the law was approved in a final worldwide vote on 26 May and had only votes in favor of the Socialist Party. PSD, Chega, Iniciativa Liberal, PCP and BE voted against and PAN and Livre abstained.
In approving the final text in Parliament, the Minister of Health, Manuel Pizarro, considered that this law affirms “the humanistic vision, as an indispensable aspect of excellent health care, giving centrality to the concepts of autonomy, dignity, participation, opportunity and recovery” for the person in need of mental health care.
In practice, the certificate focuses on the definition, bases and objectives of policy in this field, enshrines the rights and duties of persons in need of mental health care and regulates restrictions on these rights and guarantees for the protection of freedom and independence.
The law published today is part of a mental health reform that the government wants to complete by the end of 2026 and which uses €88 million for investments in this area, available under the Plan for Recovery and Resilience (PRR).
In May, the National Coordinator of Mental Health Policy, Miguel Xavier, called for a doubling of projected funds for the field, arguing that the PRR’s listed value is not a “bazooka,” but rather a “slingshot.”
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