Category Archives: Medical Law

Access to Mental Health Services for Minors in Singapore: Legal Challenges and Solutions

Medical Law

What can the law do to support the betterment of mental health of minors? In Singapore, the mental health of minors has become a critical public health concern with high rates of mental illness and suicide among youths. A potential barrier to minors’ access to mental health services is the legal requirement for parental or guardian consent. This creates challenges when parents don’t understand or acknowledge their child’s mental health needs, minors aren’t ready to discuss mental health with their parents and parents worry about stigma or future implications of a mental health diagnosis. My article ‘Revisiting Consent, Gillick Competency, Parens Patriae, and the Access of Minors to Mental Health Services in Singapore’ published in Medical Law International examines the legal infrastructure governing minors’ ability to access mental health services and explores whether current laws are adequate, or if alternatives like the Gillick competency or lowered statutory consent thresholds are needed. In addition, it considers the court’s jurisdictional powers in relation to the care and treatment of minors in the face of parental objection or disagreement.

The Two (or Three) Lives of the Mental Capacity Act

Comparative Law, Family Law, Medical Law

The England and Wales Mental Capacity Act 2005 and the Singapore Mental Capacity Act 2008 appear to be twins on paper, sharing the same core principles, the same definition of incapacity, and near-identical best interests checklists for making decisions for people who lack capacity (‘Ps’). Yet they have gone on to live very different lives, as seen in distinct bodies of case law, divergent judicial interpretations, and legislative intentions which have emphasised different themes. My co-authored article ‘The Two Lives of the Mental Capacity Act: Rethinking East-West Binaries in Comparative Analysis’ published in the Medical Law Review explains these differences, similarities, socio-cultural underpinnings, and opportunities for bi-directional learning. My collaborators for this interdisciplinary project were legal philosopher Dr Camillia Kong (School of Law, Queen Mary University of London) and bioethicist Associate Professor Michael Dunn (NUS Centre for Biomedical Ethics, Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine).