Has Israel and the Russian Federation legislation a full set of laws securing the protection of mental patients relative to United Nations' proposals and do they require modification?

This paper compares sections of laws dealing with the care and protection of mental patients in Israel and in the Russian Federation and matches them with the 24 recommendations on the subject proposed by the United Nations (UN) in 1988. Particular attention is given to issues related to forensic and ethical subjects. The UN proposals constitute a most laudable reform-inducing guideline for global mental health care systems, especially because of their emphasis on the preservation of mental patients' basic human rights. The proposals' strength springs from their influence regarding the prevention of misuse of psychiatry with focus on the care of inpatients and control over executive agencies. The detailed analysis of the similarities between the Israeli and Russian legislative approach reveals some badly matched organizational structure of many articles in comparison with the UN mandate. Forensic and ethical concepts present in the UN 1988 proposals are well addressed in both the Israeli and Russian mental health legislation. We conclude that the 1991 UN recommendations would demand further modification of the national standards.