Petition regarding the IPS failure to provide an inmate with psychiatric treatment: HaMoked and Physicians for Human Rights petition the Administrative Court regarding the IPS failure to adopt a psychiatric evaluation according to which the Petitioner requires drug and psychiatric treatment. Alternatively, should the IPS wish to have its own examination of the Petitioner, it is required to do so with no warden present within hearing range

HaMoked – Center for the Defence of the Individual and Physicians for Human Rights – Israel petitioned the Administrative Court on 19 September 2005 on behalf of a Palestinian prisoner who has been held in the solitary confinement wing of Shikma prison for four years.

A psychiatric evaluation obtained by the Petitioners and transferred to the prison's chief warden determined that the Petitioner requires hospitalization in the Israel Prison Service (IPS) Mental Health Center for observation and diagnosis. The evaluation also stated that the Petitioner required drug and psychiatric treatment in order to control violent outbursts and impulse control disorders.

The IPS had its own psychiatrist examine the Petitioner. The Petitioner insisted that the warden who was present during the examination stand outside hearing range. The IPS objected and the examination was canceled. As a result, the Petitioner was denied psychiatric treatment altogether.

The petition stressed that refraining from implementing the recommendations of the evaluation has severely harmed the prisoner's right to receive proper medical care. The petition also stated that the IPS insistence on having the Petitioner meet the IPS appointed psychiatrist with a warden present within hearing range was a severe violation of the Petitioner's right to medical confidentiality, privacy and dignity.

To view the petition (Hebrew)

Ahead of the hearing, the parties submitted a joint application detailing the conditions for an examination to be conducted outside the prison by the psychiatrist who runs the IPS Mental Health Center and without a warden present. The Court gave the agreement the force of a judgment on 16 November 2005.

The grounds for the joint application list the patient and prisoner rights which the arrangement was designed to uphold, including the confidentiality of medical information pertaining to the Petitioner, his right to privacy and the implementation of the recommendations listed in the medical evaluation he underwent.

The prisoner was examined under the agreed conditions and was subsequently sent for a week long psychiatric evaluation at the IPS mental health department.