Jill Stavert
Jill Stavert

Prof Jill Stavert

Professor

 0131 455 4553

  J.Stavert@napier.ac.uk

   

Biography

I am a Professor of Mental Health and Capacity Law situated within our School of Health and Social Care, and lead the university's interdisciplinary Centre for Mental Health Practice, Policy and Law Research (CMHPPLR). I also founded in 2013 and led the Centre for Mental Health and Capacity Law, which is now a CMHPPLR unit.

My areas of research, expertise and training/teaching are international, European and national human rights and mental health and mental capacity law and related law, policy and practice review and reform. I am particularly interested in decision-making and supported decision-making, achieving the right to the highest attainable standard of mental health, alternatives to coercive psychiatric treatment and other non-consensual interventions, and law and policy reform, lived experience experiences, equality and intersectionality (persons experiencing discrimination because of a number of different characteristics) issues and institutional, judicial and state responses in these areas. It is essential that law, policy and practice and related research works meaningfully and effectively for those who are subject to it.

I work with a number of public and voluntary sector organisations and bodies and regulatory bodies in the field of mental health, mental capacity and/or human rights. I regularly publish and speak/present at conferences and seminars .

My recent work has included/includes:

1. Law and policy reform - I was a member of the Scottish Mental Health Law Review (Scott Review) Executive Team, which reported in September 2022, and led the Review's Capacity and Support for Decision-Making workstream. Before that, I was an expert adviser to the Scottish Independent Review of Learning Disability and Autism in the Mental Health Act and a member of the Deprivation of Liberty and Supported Decision-Making Working Groups in the Scottish Government review of the Adults with Incapacity (Scotland) Act.
2. Co-designing a Human Rights Assessment Tool for Mental Health Law, Policy, and Practice focusing on effective implementation of the UNCRPD.
3. Stakeholder experiences of the Mental Health Tribunal for Scotland.
4. Accommodations for persons living with dementia in the workplace.
5. The impact of COVID-19 and related restrictions on law, policy and practice relating to persons with mental disabilities.

The rights of, and law relating to, persons with mental health and mental capacity do not exist within disciplinary silos and requires a strong inter-disciplinary approach. This is why I am based in the School of Health and Social Care but at the same time have strong links with the Law Subject Group in the Business School and with external academics and stakeholders.

I am a council member of the Scottish Universities Law Institute, and a member of the Organising Committee of the UK and Ireland Mental Diversity Law Network, the Berkeley Center on Comparative Equality and Anti-Discrimination Law and the International Guardianship Network.

I very much welcome enquiries and applications from potential Ph.D candidates relating to my research interests.

School

Research Groups

Themes

Research Areas

Events

Esteem

Advisory panels and expert committees or witness

  • World Psychiatric Association Specialist Corner
  • Specialist Accreditation Panel for Incapacity and Mental Disability Law
  • Scottish Covid-19 Public Inquiry
  • Scottish Parliament COVID-19 Academic Expert
  • Edinburgh Health and Social Care Partnership Rights in Mind Expert Group
  • Scrutiny advisory group on (COVID-19) emergency powers relating to Mental Health (Care and Treatment)(Scotland) Act 2003
  • Scottish Government Adults with Incapacity Emergency Legislation Commencement Consideration Group
  • Scottish Parliament Equality and Human Rights Committee
  • Member of Independent Mental Health Law Review Executive Team (the Scott Review)
  • Legal expert to the Independent Review of Learning Disability and Autism in the Mental Health Act (Rome Review)
  • Scottish Government Supported Decision-Making Working Group
  • Scottish Government Deprivation of Liberty (Adults with Incapacity (Scotland) Act reform) Working Group
  • Independent Review of learning disability and autism in the Mental Health Act Law and Policy Advisory Group
  • 'The Adults with Incapacity (Scotland) Act 2000: Strategies of Support and Safeguarding' at 'Operationalising Art 12.4 safeguards in the three jurisdictions of the United Kingdon, before the UN Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, Geneva
  • Organising Committee UK and Ireland Mental Diversity Law Network
  • UK and Ireland Mental Diversity Law Network Organising Committee
  • Invited to give evidence, Scottish Parliament Health and Sport Committee
  • Member of Research Advisory Group at Scottish Human Rights Commission.
  • Member of Human Rights and Public Policy Committee, Alzheimer Scotland
  • Board Member, Scottish Independent Advocacy Alliance
  • Member of Advisory Panel to Alzheimer Scotland for Nuffield Foundation funded project Dementia: autonomy and decision-making. Principles into Practice.
  • Member of National Advisory Committee, Mental Welfare Commission for Scotland
  • Member of Executive Committee, representing Edinburgh Napier University, of the Scottish Constitutional Futures Forum (a joint initiative between Scottish university Law Schools)
  • Member of Scottish Government Mental Health (Scotland) Act 2015 Implementation Steering Group.
  • Member of Mental Health and Disability Sub-Committee of the Law Society of Scotland
  • Member of South East Scotland Research Ethics Committee 1

 

Conference Organising Activity

  • Edinburgh Rights Based Care Partnership Human Rights Symposium
  • Invited to deliver workshop 'Application of law, equality and human rights for workers with dementia', STUC/Age Scotland Conference 'Dementia and the Workplace'
  • Organising Committee, UK and Ireland Mental Diversity Law Conference
  • Session organiser, Implementing the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities at National Level, at International Academy of Law and Mental Health Congress, Vienna
  • Chair at Seminar Borderline Personality Disorder and Self-Harm (considering how public services and professionals can respond more effectively to the issue using a user and rights centred perspective), a joint initiative between Perth and Kinross Council

 

Editorial Activity

  • International Journal of Law and Society
  • Editor, International Journal of Mental Health and Capacity Law
  • Joint editor and contributor for Scotland, Mental Capacity Law Newsletter
  • Editor, Juridical Review

 

External Examining/Validations

  • Ph.D Examiner, University of Bristol
  • Ph.D Examiner, University of Leeds
  • Ph.D Examiner, Queen's University Belfast
  • Ph.D Examiner, University of Leicester
  • Ph.D Examiner, Robert Gordon University
  • External Examiner, University of Edinburgh, Mental Health Law Masters
  • Ph.D Examiner - Queensland University of Technology
  • Ph.D First Year Examiner - University of Cambridge
  • Ph.D Examiner- University of Melbourne
  • External Examiner LLB(Hons) programme, School of Law, University of Edinburgh
  • Ph.D Examiner - University of Nottingham
  • External Examiner LLM Mental Health Law Northumbria University
  • External Examiner for Robert Gordon University on LLM programmes.

 

Grant Funding Panel Member

  • European Research Council Consolidator Grant
  • Doctoral Programme in Law (funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under the Marie Skłodowska-Curie grant agreement), University of Eastern Finland

 

Grant Reviewer

  • Peer review, Chief Scientist Office, Scotland, Scottish Clinical Academic Training Fellowships
  • Peer review, ESRC UKRI
  • Peer review, Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research (Dutch Research Council)

 

Invited Speaker

  • Legal Services Agency: Reinforcing Human Rights-based Implementation of the Mental Health Act
  • Speaker, Scottish Forensic Mental Health Conference
  • World Psychiatric Association training
  • Speaker, Law Society of Scotland Guardianship and Elder Client Conference
  • West of Scotland Higher Training for Psychiatrists: Mental Health Tribunal for Scotland - Views of patients, Named Persons, practitioners and MHTS panel members
  • A New Approach to Capacity, Risks and Safeguards - Lessons from the Scott Review - Five Nations event
  • Speaker, Scottish Forensic Mental Health Research Conference
  • Speaker, Symposium, "Psychiatry without coercion? Legal, practical and philosophical aspects"
  • Legal Services Agency: Scottish Mental Health Law Review - Recommendations into Practice
  • Legal Services Agency: Mental Health Tribunal for Scotland - Views of patients, Named Persons, practitioners and MHTS panel members
  • Speaker, Mental Health Justice Project Enabling Capacity Through Decision-Making Support conference, London
  • Speaker, conference ‘UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and its implications for mental health law and policy.’
  • Speaker, Law Society of Scotland, Adults with Incapacity, Guardianship and Elder Client Conference
  • The Impact of COVID-19 on Mental Health and Capacity Law and Practice , Legal Services Agency webinar
  • Human rights developments and myth-busting, Edinburgh Rights Based Care Partnership Symposium
  • Invited participant: ' Supported Decision-Making in Socio-Legal Context' workshop at International Institute for the Sociology of Law, Onati, Spain
  • The Role of Mental Health Tribunals in a CRPD-compliant World, IALMH 2019, Rome
  • Invited expert lecture at International Spring School at Institute for Medical Ethics and History of Medicine, Ruhr University Bochum
  • The Mental Health Tribunal for Scotland: the Views and Experiences of Patients, Named Persons, Practitioners and Tribunal Panel members, IALMH 2019, Rome
  • Invited participant in Workshop 'Disability and (Virtual) Institutions?: Interventions, Integration and Inclusion', International Institute for the Sociology of Law, Onati, Spain
  • Invited paper, 'UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and its implications for adults with incapacity law', The Future of Guardianship, Legal Services Agency, Glasgow,
  • 'Deprivation of LIberty', Fife Council MHOs Development Day
  • 'Support for the exercise of legal capacity in the three jurisdictions of the UK', Three Jurisdictions Project Final Report Launch, Institute of Government, London
  • ‘The Adults with Incapacity (Scotland) Act 2000: Strategies of Support and Safeguarding’, Operationalising Article 12.4 safeguards in the three jurisdictions of the United Kingdom, UN Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, Geneva
  • Invited paper 'Deprivation of Liberty', Law Society of Scotland Guardianship and Intervention Conference
  • Invited paper 'The Perimeters of Restriction: Law, Rights and Autonomy in Forensic Mental Health Settings',The Royal College of Psychiatrists in Scotland, Dunblane
  • 'Supporting and extending the exercise of legal capcity', SASW Mental Health Officer Forum Annual Study Day, Perth
  • Deprivation of liberty, Conference, Queen Mary University of London.
  • Chair and discussant, Scottish Law Commission Report on Adults with Incapacity, Legal Services Agency Adults with Incapacity Conference
  • Invited speaker, ‘Decision making in complex cases’, Alzheimer Scotland Conference “Dementia: decision making”, Edinburgh.
  • Invited speaker, ‘UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and Dementia’, Alzheimer Europe, European Parliament
  • Invited speaker, ‘Deprivation of liberty ECHR and other human rights themes that are/ are not developing post-Scottish Law Commission report’, Law Society of Scotland Mental Health and Incapacity Conference, Glasgow.
  • Invited speaker, ‘Deprivation of Liberty, National Preventive Mechanism Annual Meeting, Edinburgh

 

Media Activity

  • BBC Disclosure documentary 'Kids on the Psychiatric Ward' contributor

 

Membership of Professional Body

  • International Guardianship Network
  • Member, Legal Scholarship Network
  • Member, International Comparative Equality and Anti-Discrimination Network (led by University of California, Berkley)

 

Non-executive Directorship

  • The Listening Service Edinburgh
  • Director, WCAC 2022 LIMITED
  • Board Member, Scottish Independent Advocacy Alliance
  • Council Member, Scottish Universities Law Institute

 

Reviewing

  • BJPsych International
  • BJPsych Open
  • Reviewer, Medical Law International
  • Laws
  • Reviewer, International Journal of Law and Psychiatry
  • Reviewer, Journal of Psychiatry and Mental Health Nursing

 

Visiting Positions

  • Affiliate, Essex Autonomy Project

 

Filter by

Date


73 results

Human rights and psychiatric practice in relation to involuntary treatment of young people in Europe

Presentation / Conference Contribution
Stavert, J., Malmendier-Muehlschegel, A., & Schulze, U. (2025, June)
Human rights and psychiatric practice in relation to involuntary treatment of young people in Europe. Presented at ESCAP 2025: 21st International Congress of the European Society for Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Strasbourg
Aims: International human rights treaties emphasize autonomy and reducing or eliminating psychiatric coercion making which can conflict with involuntary psychiatric treatment....

Scotland, the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and repurposing of mental health and capacity law

Journal Article
Stavert, J., & McKay, C. (2025)
Scotland, the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and repurposing of mental health and capacity law. Human Rights Law Review, 25(2), Article ngaf008. https://doi.org/10.1093/hrlr/ngaf008
The Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) requires a reconceptualised approach to rights enjoyment by persons with mental disabilities promoting equalit...

Towards a human-rights-based framework for assessing psychiatric intervention for children and young people

Journal Article
Stavert, J., Watts, J., Schulze, U. M. E., & Malmendier-Muehlschegel, A. (2025)
Towards a human-rights-based framework for assessing psychiatric intervention for children and young people. BJPsych Open, 11(2), Article e50. https://doi.org/10.1192/bjo.2024.856
Decisions around psychiatric interventions for children and young people involve balancing respect for the child’s wishes, the need to provide benefit and relevant risk factor...

Unified Mental Health and Capacity Law: Creating Parity and Non-Discrimination?

Presentation / Conference Contribution
Stavert, J., & McKay, C. (2024, July)
Unified Mental Health and Capacity Law: Creating Parity and Non-Discrimination?. Paper presented at International Academy of Law and Mental Health Congress 2024, Barcelona, Spain
It has been argued that a fusion of mental health and capacity law creates parity and respects nondiscrimination. This approach has been adopted in the Mental Capacity Act (No...

A New Legal Framework – Autonomous Decision Making, Human Rights Enablement and Support For Decision Making

Presentation / Conference Contribution
Stavert, J. (2024, July)
A New Legal Framework – Autonomous Decision Making, Human Rights Enablement and Support For Decision Making. Paper presented at International Academy of Law and Mental Health Congress 2024, Barcelona, Spain
Even so-called human rights-based mental health and capacity legislation has tended to exclusively focus on authorising and regulating non-consensual interventions and pays li...

The CRPD and Mental Health Law Reform in Scotland

Journal Article
Stavert, J. (in press)
The CRPD and Mental Health Law Reform in Scotland. International Journal of Law and Psychiatry, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijlp.2024.101991
Scotland's mental health and capacity legislation and its implementation is underpinned by European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) informed principles, and such legislation...

COVID-19 Public Inquiry: Research Report for Portfolio 3 The Provision of Health and Social Care Services Adult Social Care

Report
McKay, C., Stavert, J., Johnston, L., Murray, J., Rek, J., Breen, C., Zarins, A., Woodrow, A., Anderson, L., & King, M. (2024)
COVID-19 Public Inquiry: Research Report for Portfolio 3 The Provision of Health and Social Care Services Adult Social Care. Scottish COVID-19 Public Inquiry
Report commissioned by Scottish COVID-19 Public Inquiry into the Scottish Government's strategic response to the COVID pandemic in relation to the provision of healthcare serv...

Scottish COVID-19 Inquiry Research: Update of Health and Social Care research covering the period February 2022 to 31 December 2022

Report
Report commissioned by Scottish COVID-19 Public Inquiry to update previous research into strategic response of Scottish Government to COVID pandemic in relation to health and ...

People with Learning Disability: Scotland and Beyond

Book Chapter
Stavert, J. (2023)
People with Learning Disability: Scotland and Beyond. In B. D. Kelly, & M. Donnelly (Eds.), Routledge Handbook of Mental Health Law (166-178). Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003226413
‘Learning disability’ is currently included in the statutory definition of ‘mental disorder’ used by Scottish capacity and mental health legislation, along with mental illness...

What the international human rights treaties actually require of us

Presentation / Conference Contribution
Stavert, J. (2023, July)
What the international human rights treaties actually require of us. Paper presented at UK and Ireland Mental Diversity Law Conference 2023, Nottingham
Across the world mental health and capacity law is often justified on the basis of protecting persons with mental disabilities and wider public safety. In some cases, the use ...

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