The United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities places an obligation on state parties to ensure effective access to justice for persons with disabilities. Mental Health Uganda (MHU) under its mandate of ensuring that People with psychosocial disabilities in society are embraced with respect and enjoy their human rights as other citizens has established a legal aid desk to protect and promote the rights of persons with psychosocial disabilities. This desk provides the following specific services;
- Legal advice,
- Legal counseling,
- Drafting of legal documents,
- Onsite visits,
- Case follow-ups, and
- Referrals to the relevant legal aid service providers.
The above services shall be pro bono (free) for our clients, members, caretakers and caregivers. Physical walk-ins by the mentioned category of people shall be every Wednesday and Friday from 9:00am to 3:00pm. The desk can be reached on any day through phone numbers as indicated on the service poster to have emergencies or urgent legal issues addressed.
We have been working on popularisation and sensitisation of the people on the Mental Health Act and other laws protecting persons with mental health needs in Uganda. The public has expressed concern on the complicated language contained in these laws and as a result, we have simplified and broken down the Mental Health Act for all persons to understand.
The team is also working on translating the Act into various languages for easier understanding by a wider mass of people.
One of the crucial actors identified from the above processes that required to be empowered are the Police Force Personnel who interface a lot with persons with psychosocial disabilities while maintaining law and order. That taken into account, arrangements are under way with various police stations on a mission to empower police officers on how to deal with persons with psychosocial disabilities.
The team has also followed up on court cases for clients and drafted legal documents such as affidavits and statutory declarations.