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Draft additional protocol to the Oviedo Convention

The Parliamentary Assembly (PACE) urges the Council of Europe’s Committee of Ministers to refrain from endorsing or adopting draft legal texts which would hinder deinstitutionalisation.

The Parliamentary Assembly (PACE) urges the Council of Europe’s Committee of Ministers to refrain from endorsing or adopting draft legal texts which “would make successful and meaningful deinstitutionalisation, as well as the abolition of coercive practices in mental health settings, more difficult”, singling out the draft additional protocol to the Oviedo Convention which is currently under consideration within the Council of Europe. “It is time to stop putting persons with disabilities into institutions, but rather to help them transition to supported independent living”, PACE has said. Adopting a resolution and recommendation to governments, based on a report by Reina de Bruijn-Wezeman (Netherlands, ALDE), the Assembly pointed out that the “UN had clearly shifted to a human rights-based approach to disability which underlined equality and inclusion. The Assembly proposed that laws authorising institutionalisation of people with disabilities be progressively repealed, as well as mental health legislation allowing for treatment without consent and detention based on impairment. Governments should develop adequately-funded strategies, with clear time-frames and benchmarks, for a genuine transition to independent living for persons with disabilities”. More information here: It’s time to stop putting persons with disabilities into institutions, says PACE (coe.int)