human rights and legislation who resource book on mental health

• Adequate <strong>human</strong> <strong>and</strong> financial <strong>resource</strong>s will be required if the consultation process is to be
comprehensive, fair <strong>and</strong> open.
• At the end of the consultation process, it is useful for the drafting body to publish a report
on suggestions, objections <strong>and</strong> queries received during that process, <strong>and</strong> the
drafting body's response to them.
• Mental health laws should be written, as far as possible, in a manner that is accessible to
the general public.
4. Adoption of <strong>legislation</strong>
Following revision of the new law on the basis of comments received during the consultation
process, the <strong>legislation</strong> is submitted to the body empowered to pass laws. This is potentially,
though not necessarily, a very time-consuming step, <strong>and</strong> a stage when proposed <strong>legislation</strong> can
get bogged down in technicalities. It requires persuading politicians <strong>and</strong> key members of the
executive branch of government <strong>and</strong> the legislature of the urgent need for new mental health
<strong>legislation</strong>, <strong>and</strong> therefore of the need to devote adequate legislative time to this process.
Although government support for a new law must (usually) have been obtained prior to the
formation of the drafting body, once a final document is ready to be sent to the legislature, other
political priorities may emerge that receive precedence, hence causing delays in the process,
since mental health is given low political priority in many countries.
4.1 Legislative process
The legislative process for adopting new laws varies in different countries, depending on their
legal traditions <strong>and</strong> political systems. What follows is a description of a general process <strong>and</strong> the
difficulties that may arise at different stages.
4.1.1 Responsibility for adopting <strong>legislation</strong>
Parliament or a sovereign, law-making body is ultimately responsible for adopting <strong>legislation</strong> in
most countries. In some countries the national parliament may be the sole legislative body, while
in other countries with a “federal” constitution, “states” or “provinces” within the country may be
authorized to make laws in addition to the national legislature. In federal States, legislative
powers in different fields are divided between the federation <strong>and</strong> its constituent states.
Depending on the locally determined jurisdiction, health laws, or laws that affect mental health,
this may be a national or regional responsibility. In some countries there may be national laws
that cover overarching principles <strong>and</strong> objectives, with state/district/provincial laws providing
more detail concerning different provisions <strong>and</strong> their application. In such cases, the latter laws
would have to follow key principles that are outlined in the national mental health law.
While for most countries a law must be passed in the legislature <strong>and</strong> promulgated before it can
be implemented, some countries’ constitutions make it possible to immediately implement
changes in laws through an administrative ordinance issued by the government. However, such
an order would subsequently need to be ratified by the parliament within a specified time period.
If not ratified, the order would lapse <strong>and</strong> the previous <strong>legislation</strong> would apply. Such a provision
may occasionally be useful in bringing about speedy implementation of mental health <strong>legislation</strong>
while the proposed <strong>legislation</strong> makes its way through the formal legislative process. This method
also has possible advantages in identifying difficulties with implementation of proposed
<strong>legislation</strong>, as it allows amendments to be made during the legislative process, based on
practical experience.
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