Introduction to Routledge Handbook of Mental Health Law

The relationship between mental illness, psychiatry, and law is complex, contested, and filled with possibility. The advent of the United Nations (UN) Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD), which came into force in 2008, sought to transform the landscape in which mental health law is developed and implemented. Mental health law operates on multiple levels and involves a wide range of actors and stakeholders. There can be little doubt that the CRPD injected new energy into debates on the role and scope of mental health law. More generally, Gergel argues that a broad view of mental health law is needed, recognising the clinical, social, and environmental landscapes in which it operates, a position which as editors the people strongly endorse. It has been a great pleasure to bring together this group of scholars to debate and interrogate mental health law and they thank all contributors for their engagement and enthusiasm.