The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) ruled against Belgium on Tuesday over its treatment of a man placed in compulsory confinement in the psychiatric wings of various prisons for around 15 years.
The Belgian national lodged a complaint to the top European human rights court, the Strasbourg-based ECHR, for not having been given adequate psychiatric rehabilitation after being detained but later cleared for criminal offences.
In 1999, a Belgian court had found him not criminally responsible for his crimes of burglary and attempted theft, with the judicial authorities subsequently ordering the man’s compulsory confinement in prison until he was given a placement in a specialised psychiatric establishment.
At various times from 1999 to 2009 and from 2010 to 2015, he was placed in the psychiatric wing of Ghent Prison and the social protection unit of Merksplas Prison in Antwerp, confinement measures which, as a result, did not provide him with effective rehabilitative support.
He was only admitted to the Ghent Forensic Psychiatry Centre in 2015, where he stayed until his discharge on probation on 8 June 2020.
Ineffective Belgian internment system
The man, born in 1980, went to the ECHR in 2017 to complain about the conditions of his internment in the psychiatric annexes of these various prisons.
These resulted in the lack of any prospect of improvement in his state of health – and greatly hindered any possibility of social reintegration. These would constitute human rights violations, according to the applicant's lawyers.
European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) in Strasbourg. Credit: Belga/Nicolas Maeterlinck
Another aspect examined by the court was the citizen’s inability to appeal the decisions of the Social Defence Commission ('CDS') – which placed him in prison's psychiatric wings – and the repeated refusal of his court-appointed lawyers to lodge an appeal against a decision which left him with inadequate rehabilitation and support.
The ECHR noted in its ruling how he had requested an appeal on several occasions throughout his detention and had been told this could only be done through his lawyer.
Within the complaint, the Belgian national also made a general case against the effectiveness of the entire internment system and the available remedies in Belgium.
Vindication
Ruling on Tuesday (B.D. v. Belgium case), the leading European human rights court vindicated the detainee's complaints and reprimanded the Belgian authorities.
According to the court, Belgium violated its citizen’s right to liberty and security and the right to a speedy decision on the lawfulness of detention, protected rights under Article 5, Paragraphs 1 and 4 of the European Convention on Human Rights.
Belgium has been ordered to pay €7,300 in moral damages, which include instances of pain, suffering and emotional distress. Both sides now have 3 months in which they can ask for the case to be referred to the Grand Chamber of the ECHR for a final ruling.
