The proposed amendments provide a clearer definition of the network of providers implementing mental health services and programmes. The phrase, “providers of psychiatric treatment” used in the Mental Health Act is substituted by a more appropriate phrase, “providers of mental disorder treatment”, which includes all healthcare providers in the field of mental health at the primary, secondary and tertiary levels that provide healthcare activities in the field of mental health as per the act governing healthcare activities.

The proposed amendments are further harmonised with the provisions of the Family Code (FC). As per paragraph one of Article 145 of the FC, parents are considered a child’s legal representatives in the narrowest meaning of the word, as they draw their entitlement directly from the Act. A child without parents or a child who is not taken care of by their parents is placed under guardianship and has a guardian appointed by a court in accordance with paragraph one of Article 257 of the FC. A guardian is a child’s legal representative in the broader meaning of the word, as they are entitled to representation on the basis of a court decision. With regard to the foregoing, the adding of the term “guardian” under Article 257 of the FC to regulating the rights of a minor’s legal representative is not necessary, as the term “legal representative” is used for both parents and guardian.