Ximenes Lopes vs. Brazil case: psychiatry and international human rights law in the real life

Abstract

In order to understand and adjust to the legal obligations that rule our professional practice as psychiatrists, it is useful to know the regulatory framework and its internal logic. The analysis of the case “Ximenes Lopes vs Brazil” (2006), from the Inter-American Court of Human Rights, intends to be, within this work, a contribution to understand those norms. The Inter-American Court of Human Rights conducts litigation that decides on the responsibility of Member States in alleged violations of human rights. Court sentences reflect the way judges interpret norms, solve conflicts between citizens and States, order reparations and control compliance with international obligations of States. “Ximenes Lopes vs Brazil” is the first judgement by the Inter-American Court of Human Rights against the State of Brazil and is also the first one that addresses the issue of mental disability In that judgement the Inter-American System sanctions a democratic State, emphasizing the effective access to Justice among historically and structurally discriminated groups, in this particular case people with mental disability.