Scottish Legislation - The Mental Health Act 2003
The Mental Health (Care and Treatment) (Scotland) Act 2003
The Act enables medical professionals to detain and treat people against their will on grounds of mental disorder, with the Mental Health Tribunal for Scotland and the Mental Welfare Commission for Scotland providing safeguards against mistreatment.
The law is based on a set of principles. These principles should be taken into account by anyone involved in a person's care and treatment.
Past and present wishes
If you are a patient, you should be given the information and support you need to take part in decisions about your care and treatment. To help service users get their views across, the new Act puts in place the right to access independent advocacy services.
It also puts in place advance statements as a way to help service users say what care and treatment they would and would not want to have. The Mental Health Commission in Scotland examines cases where a person's advance statement has been overridden.