Scope of the inquiry on preventing deaths in detention of adults with mental health conditions

Equality and Human Rights Commission inquiry into non-natural deaths in detention of adults with mental health conditions.

The Equality and Human Rights Commission will examine the available evidence about non-natural deaths in detention of adults with mental health conditions in prisons, police custody and hospitals between 2010 and 2013. The Commission will focus on existing evidence and may contact relevant organisations to increase its understanding.

The Commission will analyse the evidence to establish the extent to which there has been compliance with Article 2, and Article 2 together with Article 14, of the European Convention on Human Rights.

The Commission will develop understanding about how organisations have implemented recommendations from previous inquiries and reports into non-natural deaths in detention.

The Commission will engage with individuals from the key organisations in the three settings to determine their perspectives on the protection of detained adults with mental health conditions.

The Commission's aim is to understand how compliance with the Human Rights Act can reduce or eliminate the risk of further non-natural deaths and make appropriate recommendations.

The inquiry will focus its evidence gathering in England and Wales. A separate evidence gathering exercise in Scotland, aligned to the Scottish National Action Plan for Human Rights, will allow us to gather comparable data across Great Britain.