Verdict Suspicion of a psychosis is not enough for care arrangement

Federal Court of Justice: Disease must be established with "reasonable certainty"
Karlsruhe (jur). The suspicion of a mental illness expressed by a psychiatrist in an opinion is not sufficient for the arrangement of a care. This was decided by the Federal Court of Justice (BGH) in Karlsruhe in a recently published decision of 26 October 2016 (Ref .: XII ZB 622/15).

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In this case, an independent taxi operator since April 2014 again and again with authorities such as the State Office of Criminal Investigation Baden-Württemberg, the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution and the Foreign Office filed complaints for alleged offenses. At the suggestion of the police, which proceeded from an "obvious persecution mania" in the man, the district court Konstanz had appointed a professional supervisor for the taxi operator.

Although the district court restricted the supervision to a few tasks, the court still considered it necessary.

The BGH decided that the district court must decide once again on the case. For the court had based itself on a psychiatric report in which on the one hand a psychosis was found, but elsewhere only a "suspicion" of the disease was expressed.

However, an expert opinion must state "with sufficient certainty that the prerequisites for ordering care are available", says the BGH. This is not the case with only a suspected disease. The district court would therefore have had to arrange a supplementary assessment. fle / mwo