At the Interface of Justice and Mental Health: Key Actors’ Perceptions of Involuntary Treatment Orders in Quebec (Canada)

Involuntary treatment orders can be used to compel individuals deemed incompetent to receive care that is considered necessary for their health condition. This article describes the varying perceptions of the legal procedures associated with involuntary treatment orders. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 40 participants (service users, family members, healthcare professionals, and lawyers). The overarching theme “at the intersection of legal and clinical issues” captures the ways in which involuntary treatment orders are experienced and used at the crossroads of two distinct systems. Three interrelated themes were identified. The first theme, The Construction and Negotiation of Involuntary Treatment Orders , examines how involuntary treatment orders are shaped through formal legal criteria, informal clinical reasoning, institutional norms, and strategic negotiation, often revealing tensions and overlaps between legal and clinical logics. The second theme, Relational Dynamics in the Initiation of Involuntary Treatment Orders , focuses on how interpersonal interactions among different key actors influence perceptions of fairness, legitimacy, and coercion in the process surrounding involuntary treatment orders. The third theme, Barriers and Inequities in Access to Justice , highlights how structural, procedural, and psychosocial factors constrain service users’ ability to exercise their rights and shape unequal experiences within the legal process.