Washington University Global Studies Law Review Volume 17 Issue 2 2018 The New Chinese Mental Health Laws Zhiyuan Guo China University of Political Science and Law Floyd Feeney University of California, Davis Follow this and additional works at: https://openscholarship.wustl.edu/law_globalstudies Part of the Disability Law Commons, Family Law Commons, Health Law and Policy Commons, Law and Psychology Commons, Medicine and Health Commons, and the Psychology Commons Recommended Citation Zhiyuan Guo and Floyd Feeney, The New Chinese Mental Health Laws, 17 WASH. U. GLOBAL STUD. L. REV. 411 (2018), https://openscholarship.wustl.edu/law_globalstudies/vol17/iss2/8 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Law School at Washington University Open Scholarship. It has been accepted for inclusion in Washington University Global Studies Law Review by an authorized administrator of Washington University Open Scholarship. For more information, please contact
[email protected]. THE NEW CHINESE MENTAL HEALTH LAWS ZHIYUAN GUO1 AND FLOYD FEENEY2 ABSTRACT The United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities is by far the most important international agreement yet developed concerning the mentally disabled. China adopted this Convention in 2008. In 2012 China went further—making major changes in the way that China deals with mental health issues in both its criminal and its civil law. Coming first was a new Criminal Procedure Code that adds a whole new dimension to the way that China deals with the mentally ill who are charged with crimes. Equally important was the new civil mental disabilities law that China adopted later in the year.