French Public Health Code
In forceI.-A patient's full hospitalisation may not continue without a decision on this measure having been taken by the liberty and custody judge, to whom the matter has first been referred by the director of the establishment when hospitalisation has been ordered in application of chapter II of the present title or by the State representative in the department when hospitalisation has been ordered in application of chapter III of the present title, article L. 3214-3 of the present code or article 706-135 of the code of criminal procedure:
1° Before the expiry of a period of twelve days from the date of admission ordered pursuant to Chapters II or III of this Title or Article L. 3214-3 of the same Code. The matter is then referred to the liberty and custody judge within eight days of this admission;
2° Before the expiry of a period of twelve days from the decision modifying the form of the patient's care and proceeding with full hospitalisation in application of the last paragraph of article L. 3212-4 or III of article L. 3213-3 respectively. The matter is then referred to the liberty and custody judge within eight days of this decision;
3° Before the expiry of a period of six months from either any judicial decision ordering hospitalisation in application of article 706-135 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, or any decision taken by the liberty and custody judge in application of this I or articles L. 3211-12, L. 3213-3, L. 3213-8 or L. 3213-9-1 of this Code, when the patient has been kept in full hospitalisation continuously since this decision. Any decision by the liberty and custody judge taken before the expiry of this period in application of 2° of this I or of one of the same articles L. 3211-12, L. 3213-3, L. 3213-8 or L. 3213-9-1, or any new judicial decision ordering hospitalisation in application of article 706-135 of the code of criminal procedure starts this period running again. In this case, the matter is referred to the liberty and custody judge at least fifteen days before expiry of the six-month period provided for in this 3°.
However, when the liberty and custody judge has ordered, before the expiry of one of the periods mentioned in 1° to 3° of this I, an expert opinion either in application of III of this article or, exceptionally, in consideration of the opinion mentioned in II, this period is extended for a period that may not exceed fourteen days from the date of this order. The patient's full hospitalisation is then maintained until the judge's decision, unless it is terminated in application of Chapters II or III of this Title. The order referred to in this paragraph may be made without a prior hearing.
The judge shall set the time limits within which the expert opinion referred to in the penultimate paragraph of this I must be produced, within a maximum limit set by decree in the Conseil d'Etat. Once these time limits have expired, the court shall rule immediately.
II - The referral referred to in I of the present article is accompanied by a reasoned opinion from a psychiatrist in the host establishment on the need to continue full hospitalisation.
If the patient falls into one of the cases mentioned in II of article L. 3211-12, the opinion provided for in the first paragraph of this II is given by the college mentioned in article L. 3211-9.
III - The liberty and custody judge will, if necessary, order the release of the full hospitalisation measure.
When he/she orders this release, he/she may, in the light of the information in the file and by reasoned decision, decide that the release takes effect within a maximum of twenty-four hours, so that a care programme can, if necessary, be drawn up in application of II of article L. 3211-2-1. Once this programme has been drawn up or at the end of the period mentioned in the first sentence of this paragraph, the full hospitalisation measure ends.
However, if the patient falls into one of the cases mentioned in II of article L. 3211-12, the judge may only decide to release the patient after obtaining two expert opinions from psychiatrists on the lists mentioned in article L. 3213-5-1.
IV -When the liberty and custody judge does not order the release of the full hospitalisation measure, he will rule, if necessary, including of his own motion, on the continuation of the isolation or restraint measure.
V.-When the liberty and custody judge has not given a ruling before the expiry of the twelve-day period provided for in 1° and 2° of I or the six-month period provided for in 3° of the same I, the full hospitalisation measure is released at the end of each of these periods.
If a case is referred to the liberty and custody judge after the expiry of the eight-day period provided for in 1° and 2° of I or the fifteen-day period provided for in 3° of the same I, he or she will rule without discussion that the full hospitalisation measure has been released, unless exceptional circumstances can be shown to be the cause of the late referral and the discussion can take place with due respect for the rights of the defence.
