WILLEMSTAD — The discussion of the Land regulation Care psychiatric patients earlier this week in the Central Committee of the States led to many questions. The new land regulation must replace a law from 1921, namely the Regulation to arrange for the superintending of mentally ill people.
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The regulation from 1921 will become a new law – officially, the Land regulation regards rules for the commitment and nursing of psychiatric patients and will include modernization and expansion. During the discussion earlier this week, many State-members wondered why it had taken so long to discuss this law. The original draft dates from 1999, according to PNP-member Faroe Metry. The report of the Advisory Council had been drawn up in 2001, Metry and several other State-members recalled. Therefore, several State-members wanted to know why it had taken so long before the States had discussed the law. Metry stated that this was due to ‘large gaps’ during the legislation process.
There were also questions on the role of the Lieutenant Governor. The draft namely states that the Lieutenant Governor has the authority to have a person institutionalized who is suffering from a psychiatric illness and residing within the relevant island territory.
Various State-members pointed out that the position of a Lieutenant Governor will no longer exist after the commencement of the new statuses of the various islands. The question remains, ‘Who is then to assume that authority?"
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