This session critically examines the challenge posed by the international human rights framework, framed by the WHO’s 2023 Guidance on Mental Health, Human Rights and Legislation, to modern Psychiatry's tension between dignity, autonomy, and the clinical reality of severe mental illness. The Guidance's principles at times challenge well-established UK legal and ethical frameworks.
The session begins by grounding this critical debate in lived experience. Dr. Adam Flynn (ST5) will conduct a powerful live interview with a regional Expert by Experience focused on their personal encounters with coercion and restrictive practices. The exchange is structured to facilitate a humanistic expression of the emotional and personal impact of involuntary treatment, ensuring the patient’s voice is central to the discussion.
Two structured talks follow:
• Professor Neeraj Gill (World Psychiatric Association) will provide a global perspective, analysing the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) and the resulting ‘Geneva Impasse’ on involuntary interventions, contextualising this with social justice and public mental health. He will contrast the WPA's view with the WHO's "zero tolerance" stance on coercion.
• Professor Gareth Owen will then focus on the UK Policy Interface. He will contrast the utility of Advance Care Directives with the troubled Intellectual Disability and Autism provisions in the recent Mental Health Bill in England and Wales. This will be discussed in the context of exemplifying "aspirational" CRPD-inspired law-making where potential clinical consequences remain unaddressed.
Throughout, the College’s proposed rights-respecting framework will be articulated. Informed by ECHR case law, this approach advocates for the balancing of competing rights (Articles 2, 3, 5, and 8), suggesting that temporary, proportionate limitations on legal capacity are ethically justifiable, with rigorous safeguards, to prevent severe harm and uphold patient dignity. This reflects the College's ongoing commitment to developing rights-respecting models of care.
Learning objectives
By the end of this webinar you should be able to:
• identify key considerations for safeguarding patient dignity and recovery by integrating the lived experience of coercion and restrictive practice into a professional ethical framework
• analyse the international debate ("The Geneva Impasse") regarding involuntary interventions, contrasting the World Psychiatric Association's position with the WHO's "zero tolerance" approach to coercion
• evaluate contemporary UK policy by comparing the rights-aligned success of Advance Care Directives with the clinical and legal challenges presented by "aspirational" law-making in recent Mental Health Bill provisions
• differentiate the College's proposed rights-balancing framework, informed by European Court of Human Rights case law (Articles 2, 3, 5, 8), by contrasting its nuanced approach with the broad principles articulated in the WHO's 2023 guidance.
Speakers
Chair: Professor Piyal Sen, Elysium Healthcare, Milton Keynes
Dr Adam Flynn, Northern Ireland Medical and Dental Training Agency, Belfast and Ms Lois Edmunds, Expert by Experience
Professor Neeraj Gill, Griffith University, Gold Coast, Australia
Professor Gareth Owen, King's College London, London
Funding
RCPsych International Congress is financially supported by the purchase of exhibition stand packages. A full list of confirmed exhibitors can be found here: Exhibiting Organisations at International Congress 2026
Availability
This webinar is part of the Congress webinar 2026 package. If you attended all four days of Congress, you will have access to these as part of your Congress package. Otherwise the Congress webinar 2026 package can be purchased below.
