Human Rights Commission: "Written Notification Required When Discharging from Psychiatric Medical Institutions is Denied"

[Asia Economy Reporter Seongpil Cho] The National Human Rights Commission has ruled that failing to notify psychiatric inpatients in writing of the reasons their discharge requests were denied constitutes a human rights violation.

On the 1st, the Commission announced it recommended the Minister of Health and Welfare to provide related training to psychiatric institutions to ensure compliance with the written notification procedure regarding reasons for discharge refusal. It also advised local government heads, who are responsible for hospital oversight, to impose fines on hospital directors under Article 89 of the Mental Health Act.

Earlier, in February this year, the Commission received a complaint from a citizen involuntarily admitted to a psychiatric institution under protective hospitalization, who submitted multiple discharge requests to the hospital but was not provided written notice of the reasons for refusal, resulting in a human rights infringement. Protective hospitalization is a type of psychiatric admission initiated involuntarily by two or more guardians. The hospital involved explained verbally to the complainant the reasons for denying the discharge request but claimed it was unaware that such information must be provided in writing.

However, the Commission rejected this explanation, noting that the discharge request form provided by the hospital clearly states, "If the form is received, the patient must be discharged without delay or provided with a notice of reasons for discharge refusal and the right to request a discharge review." The Commission further pointed out, "The relevant legal provisions are extremely important regulations designed to protect fundamental rights such as personal freedom of psychiatric inpatients, whose basic rights are highly vulnerable to infringement. The hospital’s complete ignorance of these rules appears to stem from a mindset and practice that prioritize the will of guardians over the patient’s own wishes regarding discharge."

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