Published on 19 December 2022

FIFTH SECTION

Application no. 79412/17 Kseniya Pavlivna KAZACHYNSKA against Ukraine lodged on 7 November 2017 communicated on 30 November 2022

SUBJECT MATTER OF THE CASE

The case concerns the applicant’s involuntary placement in the Kherson regional psychiatric hospital (“the Hospital”) for a period of thirteen days.

On 9 June 2013 an ambulance team took the applicant to the Hospital following a phone call from her husband, who said that the applicant had had a sudden episode of hallucinations. According to the applicant, prior to the episode, her husband, who had a debt-related conflict with her, had come to see her and put drugs into her tea; this was part of his attempt to have her declared mentally ill and deprived of legal capacity so that he could obtain control of her possessions.

The applicant submits that she had never given her consent to the hospitalisation and no decision on her forced hospitalisation was ever taken by a panel of psychiatrists as required by the law. According to her, she was subjected to inhuman and degrading treatment in the Hospital: she was forced to take strong neuroleptics, which had severe side effects and caused a deterioration of her health; the medical staff tied her to a bed and refused her access to a toilet or to outdoor exercise; the light was always on throughout the night; she was also forced to clean the hospital premises and to feed and wash other patients; and no family visits were allowed.

On 22 June 2013 the applicant was discharged from the Hospital on the demand of her mother. Following her release, the applicant complained to the regional health department and the law-enforcement authorities that her psychiatric confinement had been unlawful and that she had been ill-treated by the Hospital staff. No misconduct on the part of the medical staff was established following an inquiry conducted by the regional health department. The pre-trial investigation into the applicant’s complaints is still pending, after having been closed and reopened on a number of occasions.

In the meantime, in August 2014, the applicant’s husband instituted court proceedings seeking to have the applicant declared legally incapable and to become her guardian, apparently to no avail.

The applicant complains under Articles 3, 8 and 13 of the Convention that she was arbitrarily placed in a psychiatric hospital and was ill-treated there, and that the investigation into her complaints in that respect was ineffective and unduly lengthy. The Court, being the master of the characterisation to be given in law to the facts of cases, finds that the complaints at issue fall to be examined under Article 3 and Article 5 § 1 of the Convention, which are the relevant provisions.

QUESTIONS TO THE PARTIES

1. Was the applicant’s detention in the Kherson regional psychiatric hospital between 9 to 22 June 2013 “lawful” and “in accordance with a procedure prescribed by law” within the meaning of Article 5 § 1 (e) of the Convention? In particular, was the applicant reliably shown to be suffering from a mental disorder of a kind and degree warranting compulsory confinement? What was the legal basis for the applicant’s deprivation of liberty during the above period (see Gorobet v. Moldova , no. 30951/10, § 40, 11 October 2011)?

2. Did the applicant’s forced medical treatment in the Kherson regional psychiatric hospital amount to inhuman or degrading treatment, in breach of Article 3 of the Convention (see Gorobet , cited above, §§ 47-53)? In particular, has a medical necessity for the applicant’s psychiatric treatment been convincingly shown? Were the procedural guarantees for the decision to administer involuntary psychiatric treatment in respect of the applicant complied with?

3. Regard being had to the conditions of detention in the Kherson regional psychiatric hospital, as described by the applicant, was the applicant subjected to inhuman or degrading treatment by the medical personnel of that facility, in breach of Article 3 of the Convention?

4. Were the domestic proceedings in respect of the applicant’s allegations of ill-treatment compatible with the procedural requirements of Article 3 of the Convention?

The Government are invited to provide the following material:

- any reports and conclusions of the committee of psychiatric experts and the healthcare authorities as to the applicant’s hospitalisation and stay in the psychiatric hospital; the domestic court’s decisions delivered in that respect;

- the records of the applicant’s reception and stay in the psychiatric hospital, including all records concerning the application of physical restraint measures;

- any medical documents concerning injuries sustained by the applicant in the relevant period of time;

- any documents concerning the domestic proceedings in respect of the applicant’s allegations of ill-treatment, including decisions of the authorities refusing to open an investigation and decisions of the supervising authorities reviewing those decisions.