Dutch Law on compulsory Admission
Introduction
The Psychiatric Hospitals (Compulsory Admissions) Act came into effect on 17 January 1994 and replaces the earlier Lunacy Act dating from 1884. The most important objective of the Compulsory Admissions Act is to safeguard the legal rights of persons suffering from a mental illness in the event of and during involuntary admission .
The first major difference between the Lunacy Act and the Compulsory Admissions Act is the scope of the latter. The Compulsory Admissions Act not only applies to involuntary admission to general psychiatric hospitals, but also to involuntary admission to the psychiatric departments of general and teaching hospitals nursing homes and institutions for the mentally handicapped. The Act recognizes a separate procedure involving evaluation committees for the latter two types of institutions.