For the first time in Transcarpathia, wards of the psychoneurological residential institution have had their civil capacity reinstated

For the first time in Transcarpathia, two wards of the psychoneurological residential institution were able to have their (limited) civil capacity reinstated and finally got the opportunity to return home to their families and live normal life, – the lawyer of the Mukachevo Human Rights Center, the regional coordinator of public relations of the Ukrainian Parliament Commissioner for Human Rights in Transcarpathian region, the chairman of the board of the Human Rights Foundation "Rozvytok" Oleg Grigoriev informed.

He also said that it had taken almost 2 years to fight the system. Because the hospitals, that once recognized a person incapacitated, are very reluctant to change the person’s mental health status later: "In our country, it is very hard for a person with mental disorders, who has been found incapacitated and placed into a psychoneurological institution, to get out of it. In fact, it is impossible to achieve justice, to get out the residential institution system without the will of civil servants holding the "key" from the doors without handles. Once you got into this system, it won’t let you go. It will eat you alive. It is believed that the punitive psychiatry system was formally abolished 30 years ago, but in reality it is going through renaissance.

This case shows that though it is very difficult to swim against the current, it is still possible. And let it be an inspirational example for others. It is also encouraging that at the end of 2017 the changes to the procedure of recognizing an individual as incapacitated came into force. Thus, the validity term of the decision on the recognition of incapacity is determined by the court, but can not exceed 2 years. This gives the wards of all psychoneurological institutions a good chance for reinstatement of their rights and opportunities for a decent life."