French Public Health Code
In forceI.-A person suffering from a mental disorder may only be the subject of psychiatric care on the decision of the director of an establishment mentioned in article L. 3222-1 when the following two conditions are met:
1° Their mental disorder makes it impossible for them to give their consent;
2° Their mental state requires immediate care with either constant medical supervision justifying full hospitalisation, or regular medical supervision justifying care in the form mentioned in 2° of I of article L. 3211-2-1.
II - The director of the establishment makes the admission decision :
1° Either when a request has been made to him/her by a member of the patient's family or by a person who can prove that he/she had a relationship with the patient prior to the request for care and who is entitled to act in the patient's interest, excluding the nursing staff working in the establishment caring for the patient. If they meet the conditions set out in the present paragraph, the person responsible for the legal protection of a protected person of full age may make a request for the latter's care.
The form and content of this request are laid down by decree in the Conseil d'Etat.
The admission decision must be accompanied by two detailed medical certificates dated less than fifteen days ago, certifying that the conditions set out in 1° and 2° of I of this article have been met.
The first medical certificate may only be drawn up by a doctor not practising in the establishment receiving the patient; it states the mental state of the patient, the characteristics of his illness and the need for treatment. It must be confirmed by a certificate from a second doctor who may practise in the establishment receiving the patient. The two doctors may not be related, up to and including the fourth degree, either to each other or to the director of the establishment mentioned in article L. 3222-1 which makes the admission decision, or to the person who requested the care or to the person who is the subject of this care;
2° Or when it proves impossible to obtain a request under the conditions provided for in 1° of this II and when, on the date of admission, there is an imminent danger to the person's health, duly established by a medical certificate drawn up under the conditions provided for in the third paragraph of the same 1°. This certificate states the mental state of the patient, the characteristics of the illness and the need for treatment. The doctor who draws up this certificate may not practise in the establishment housing the patient; moreover, he or she may not be related, up to and including the fourth degree, either to the director of this establishment or to the patient.
In this case, the director of the host establishment informs, within twenty-four hours, unless there are particular difficulties, the family of the person undergoing treatment and, where applicable, the person responsible for the legal protection of the person concerned or, failing this, any person who can prove the existence of a relationship with the patient prior to the admission for treatment and who is entitled to act in the patient's interest.
When admission has been ordered in application of this 2°, the medical certificates mentioned in the second and third paragraphs of article L. 3211-2-2 are drawn up by two separate psychiatrists.
