Woman ordered to psychiatric detention without proper assessment of her mental health, breaching the ECHR

In Chamber's judgment in the case of M.B. v. Spain (application no. 38239/22) the European Court of Human Rights held, unanimously, that there had been a violation of Article 5 § 1 (right to liberty and security) of the European Convention on Human Rights. 

The case concerned Ms M.B.’s pre-trial detention and later confinement in a prison psychiatric hospital in February 2020, following her burning down the flat she had been living in. The Court found in particular that the Spanish courts had not reassessed M.B.’s state of mental health when the order had been given, and had not adequately scrutinized the reports on her health or assessed whether her condition had actually warranted compulsory confinement. Overall, the security order had not met the minimum conditions necessary to comply with the Convention.

Principal facts 

The applicant, M.B., is a Moroccan national who was born in 1978. M.B. suffers from paranoid schizophrenia. In March 2018 she was arrested by the police for setting fire to the flat she was living in after having consumed alcohol. She was placed in pre-trial detention. On 24 February 2020 the Salamanca Audiencia Provincial found M.B. had carried out the act of arson. 

However, noting that she had been suffering at the time from a mental disorder and noting the large amount of alcohol she had consumed, which had led her to be completely unbalanced, it excluded her from criminal responsibility and acquitted her. It ordered as a security measure that she be treated in a secure unit for a period of between five and 15 years. 

An appeal by M.B. was dismissed by the Castile and León High Court. Her subsequent appeal on points of law was declared inadmissible by the Supreme Court in May 2021. She lodged an amparo appeal, which was declared inadmissible by the Constitutional Court in May 2022. She was admitted to a prison psychiatric hospital (Hospital Psiquiátrico Penitenciario) in July 2021. 

In June 2022, the authorities ordered that she be moved to a mental-health institution (Centro Específico de Enfermos Mentales) as she was posing less of a risk. The transfer was carried out in November 2023.

Relying on Articles 5 §§ 1, 3 and 4 (right to liberty and security) and 7 (no punishment without law), Ms M.B. complained, in particular, that her pre-trial detention had been unlawful, excessively lengthy and not reviewed; and that the security measure imposed on her (in the form of continued detention following her acquittal) had not been sufficiently reasoned.

Decision of the Court 

Article 5 §§ 1, 3 and 4 concerning pre-trial detention 

The Court noted that M.B. had been represented by an appointed lawyer at all stages of the proceedings and that counsel had provided legal assistance to the applicant, including appealing against several judgments and decisions. However, no formal steps had been taken before the competent national courts to have M.B.’s pre-trial detention reviewed. 

In view of this, the Court held that she had not exhausted domestic remedies for the period 12 March 2018 to 21 May 2020. For the period following the decision of the Audiencia Provincial of 21 May 2020 the Court noted that M.B. had not appealed against that decision. It therefore held that M.B. had not exhausted domestic remedies for the period 21 May 2020 to 16 July 2021 also. Overall, the Court found these complaints inadmissible for non-exhaustion of domestic remedies. 

Article 5 § 1 concerning imposition of the security measure 

The Court reiterated that an individual cannot be deprived of his or her liberty as being of “unsound mind” unless he: or she had been reliably shown to be of “unsound mind” on the basis of objective medical expertise; the nature of the mental disorder required compulsory confinement; and in the event of continued confinement, the persistence of such a disorder had to be shown. 

The assessment made by the Spanish courts had been based on M.B.’s mental state on the date she had started the fire – almost two years before the imposition of the security measure. There had been no assessment of her state of mental health when the order had been given. Reports on her health submitted to the Audiencia Provincial had not been adequately scrutinised. 

The Spanish courts appeared to have made no reference to M.B.’s therapeutic or medical needs or to the need to prevent her from, for example, causing harm to herself or others when ordering her compulsory confinement. The imposition of the security measure had not met the minimum conditions needed and there had therefore been a violation of Article 5 § 1 of the Convention.

The Court held that Spain was to pay M.B. 20,000 euros (EUR) in respect of non-pecuniary damage. (echr.coe.int/photo freepik.com)

Decision is available here

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