Constitutional Court restricts freedom-free fixations of psychiatric patients

Judgment: Fixations of psychiatric patients only with court approval

The Federal Constitutional Court has ruled in a recent ruling that the longer-term fixation of psychiatric patients in the future must be approved by a judge. Two patients from Bavaria and Baden-Württemberg had filed a constitutional complaint because they had been fixed in the psychiatric ward against their will.

Intervention in the fundamental right to freedom of the person

The Federal Constitutional Court in Karlsruhe has ruled that fixations of psychiatric patients in the future must be approved by the courts. "The fixation of patients is an intrusion into their fundamental right to freedom of the person," it says in a press release. The reason for the ruling was the complaints of two men who had been confined to bed in Bavaria and Baden-Wurttemberg for several hours on medical orders.

The longer fixation of psychiatric patients must be approved by a judge in the future. The arrangement of a doctor is not enough. This has now been decided by the Federal Constitutional Court. (Image: BillionPhotos.com/fotolia.com)

Not only short-term fixation is deprivation of liberty

"The fundamental right of liberty and the principle of proportionality give rise to strict requirements for the justification of such interference," the court stated in the communication.

"The legal basis for authorization must be sufficiently specific and meet the material and procedural requirements," it continues.

According to the information, not only a short-term fixation is a deprivation of liberty, for which Art. 104 (2) Basic Law provides for the further, procedural reservation of a judicial decision.

"A short-term measure can usually be assumed if it is foreseeably shorter than half an hour or so," it says in a July 24 ruling.

Daily judicial on-call service

Specifically, this means that the placement of a doctor is not sufficient if a fixation takes half an hour or more. Then the measure must be approved by the court.

At least during the day a judge must be available to order fixations.

The ruling reads: "In order to ensure the protection of those affected by a deprivation of liberty, a daily judicial on-call duty is required covering the period from 6:00 to 21:00."

If a fixation at night made, a judicial decision must be obtained the next morning.

Constitutional state in Bavaria and Baden-Württemberg bring about

With the judgment, the Second Senate of the Federal Constitutional Court declared the relevant provision of the state Baden-Wuerttemberg unconstitutional and determined that the Baden-Wuerttemberg and the Bavarian legislature - which so far has not issued a special legal basis for fixations - are obliged until 30. June 2019 to bring about a constitutional state.

Tied to the bed for hours

The verdict had been made due to constitutional complaints by two men from southern Germany.

One of them was "the 7-point fixation of the complainant, which had been taken by a doctor, for eight hours - that is the attachment to a sickbed on both arms, both legs and around the abdomen, chest and forehead - during a total of well over 12 hours of psychiatric stay." it says in the message.

There it states that the Bavarian Housing Act, which was the legal basis for the provisional placement of the complainant, does not provide for a special authorization basis for the ordering of fixations.

The second constitutional complaint concerned "5-point fixation - that is, the attachment of all limbs and around the abdomen to a hospital bed - one in a closed mental institution, which had been repeatedly ordered over several days medical attention."

The current judgment states: "Both a 5-point and a 7-point fixation of not only short-term duration is a deprivation of liberty within the meaning of Art. 104 (2) of the Basic Law Housing arrangement is not covered. "(Ad)