The United Nations Principles for the Protection of Persons with Mental Illness, (United Nations, 1991), make very explicit statements that:
• All persons have the right to the best available mental healthcare, which shall be part of the health and social care system.
• All persons with a mental illness, or who are being treated as such persons, shall be
treated with humanity and respect for the inherent dignity of the human person.
• Every person with a mental illness shall have the right to exercise all civil, political,
economic, social and cultural rights as recognised in the UN Universal Declaration of
Human Rights, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, and the
International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, and in other relevant
instruments . . . all persons have the right to the best available mental healthcare.
