Protection and liability regimes for the mentally ill in the DRC

Congolese law is inadequate on the subject of the mentally ill. A few provisions deal with the issue in a scattered and ineffective manner. From Ordinance-Law no. 11-83 of February 14 1959 on the housing of individuals whose free movement would be dangerous to themselves or others which is unavoidably outdated to a few provisions of the Family Code including articles 298 to 309 and 713 the protection and liability regimes for the mentally ill are on the crutches of a legislator showing a fumbling that has no name. Law no. 15/022 of December 31 2015 amending and supplementing the decree of January 30 1940 on the penal code was not enough despite its contribution to talk about protection and liability regimes. While expressing the desire for specific mental health legislation the premise of this study is nothing other than that of adapting the provisions of the various aforementioned codes to developments in neuropsychiatry with a view to effective protection and liability of the mentally ill.