Reports

Access to Justice

The 154th Law Commission of India Report on the Code of Criminal Procedure (1973)

The LCI’s report in respect of the pre-inquiry and pre-trial proceedings (Sections 328-330). It is the standard of treatability that should provide justification for postponement of enquiry or trial; hence treatability and not dangerousness should be the guiding force of sections 328 and 329. It is the prospect of recovery alone which explains the postponement of enquiry or trial of persons of unsound mind and the continuance of the proceedings for persons for who are not of unsound mind.

Death Penalty Project, Handbook on Forensic Psychiatric Practises in Capital Cases (2018)

This handbook, authored by the Death Penalty Project, is intended to aid mental health professionals and lawyers that engage in trials and hearings where psychiatric or psychological issues may arise. The handbook discusses a wide range of psycholegal issues that are relevant to criminal trials, including capital cases. Read More →

United Nations General Assembly Human Rights Council, Report of the Special Rapporteur on the Right of Everyone to the Enjoyment of the Highest Attainable Standard of Physical and Mental Health (2018)

The Special Rapporteur addresses the relationship between the right to health and specific forms of deprivation of liberty and confinement in penal and medical regimes. These reports suggest policy shifts to improve the quality of mental health service and to create a legal and policy environment that is conducive to the realization of the human rights of persons with mental health conditions and psychosocial disabilities.

United Nations General Assembly Human Rights Council, Mental health and Human Rights: Report of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (2017)

The report is focused on providing an overview of some of the most significant challenges faced by users of mental health services, persons with mental health conditions and persons with psychosocial disabilities., the normative framework applicable to their human rights and policies and practices, which would support their full realization.

The Special Rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment has described the imposition and enforcement of the death penalty in the case of persons with mental disabilities as particularly cruel, inhuman and degrading and in violation of article 7 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and articles 1 and 16 of the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment.

National Human Rights Commission, Suicide in Prison: Prevention Strategy and Implication From Human Rights and Legal Points of View (2014)

This report reviews the relevant national and international literature and conduct a data analysis of recent prison suicides so as to scrutinize the factors behind suicide and provides recommendations for the better identification and management of ‘at-risk’ prisoners as well as changing the general prison environment. Read More →

Suresh Bada Math et al., Minds Imprisoned: Mental Health Care in Prisons, National Institute of Mental Health Neuro Sciences Bangalore (2011)

Prison systems worldwide fail to provide an environment that helps and aids the mental health of the inmate populations. Issues such as isolation from society, poor prison conditions, overcrowding and lack of safety induce distress, depression and anxiety in most prisoners, which may develop into more serious mental disabilities. It is in this context that an evaluation of mental health problems in the Central Prison, Bangalore, was undertaken.