The Parliament of Georgia has made changes to the rules for compulsory psychiatric treatment

The Parliament of Georgia made changes to the Law on Psychiatric Care, the Criminal Procedure Code, and the Administrative Procedure Code under an expedited procedure on October 28. According to Georgian Dream deputies, these changes were implemented due to a Constitutional Court decision. The Constitutional Court satisfied the Public Defender's lawsuit and declared unconstitutional the norms concerning the grounds, terms, and court authority regarding compulsory psychiatric treatment. Sources provide conflicting information regarding the date: publika points to April 30, 2026, while according to interpressnews, the decision was made on April 29, 2026. Publika+1

Under the new legislation, a special commission of the psychiatric institution will assess every two months after the imposition of compulsory treatment whether the grounds for continuing treatment still exist. It will be possible to appeal the commission's decision through administrative procedures. In addition, every six months after the imposition of compulsory treatment, the institution's administration will send documentation to the court, which will verify the existence of the grounds for treatment. The attending physician will still have the authority to apply to the commission at any time if they believe the patient has recovered ahead of schedule. Publika+1

According to interpressnews, the changes also affected the periodicity of assessing the appropriateness of continuing involuntary inpatient psychiatric care, where the interval for the review of the issue by a commission of psychiatrists was increased from one to two months. The Public Defender expresses hope that the introduced mechanisms will help prevent unjustified prolongation of treatment and protect the rights of patients. Interpressnews+1