By a decision of the Croatian Parliament, 6 June is marked as the National Day of the Rights of Persons with Mental Health Conditions. This is one of the most vulnerable social groups, facing many problems in everyday life, above all frequent prejudice, stigmatisation and social exclusion. Persons with mental health conditions may also be exposed to degrading and inhuman treatment.
The Ombudswoman protects the rights of persons with mental health conditions whose freedom of movement is restricted through several of her mandates. Based on her ombudsman mandate and her mandate as the National Human Rights Institution, in accordance with the powers set out in the Ombudsman Act, she acts on complaints and in cases opened on her own initiative. Based on her mandate as the National Preventive Mechanism (NPM), in accordance with the powers set out in the Act on the National Preventive Mechanism for the Prevention of Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, she carries out preventive visits to places where persons with mental health conditions whose freedom of movement is restricted are held.
In the area of protecting the rights of persons with mental health conditions whose freedom of movement is restricted, in her 2025 Report the Ombudswoman pointed to problems raised by citizens in their complaints. These relate, for example, to dissatisfaction with prescribed and administered therapy, failure to hospitalise a person at the request of family members, inadequate accommodation conditions in psychiatric institutions, issues concerning the validity of voluntary consent and placement in a closed psychiatric ward, as well as patients not being informed that their voluntary treatment would be carried out in closed conditions.
During 2025, the Ombudswoman also visited the Psychiatry Department of Zadar General Hospital, the Psychiatry Department of the General Hospital of Šibenik-Knin County, the Psychiatry Department of Požega General County Hospital and the Psychiatry Department of Virovitica General Hospital, as well as the Insula Rab County Special Hospital for Psychiatry and Rehabilitation and the Dr Ivan Barbot Neuropsychiatric Hospital in Popovača. The visits were carried out with the aim of determining the conditions in which persons with mental health conditions are treated, the manner in which they are treated, patients’ awareness of their rights, and the legality and purposefulness of the use of means of restraint.
More information on this topic, a detailed analysis of the situation and the Ombudswoman’s recommendations are available in the Ombudswoman’s 2025 Report.
