Short report
Who will be protected by the civil commitment bill BOPZ?
J.A. Jenner
A new civil commitment bill, called BOPZ, is in preparation in the Netherlands. The diagnosis of mental illness and the prediction of danger are connected in series. Although a more efficient system of checking by the court of justice is guaranteed, the criteria for checking are nonetheless as (in)sufficient as those of the existing law. Methodological shortcomings of this bill are discussed together with the trouble to implement it. The question is raised: which persons involved in the legal procedure will be benefitted by it? The new civil commitment bill of the Netherlands (BOPZ) does offer few and insufficient legal security to the persons involved. Finally the paradoxical situation is discussed in which the psychiatrist is put.