Book reviews

The law, in general and until recent years, has taken a somewhat romantic view of the nearest relation, defining such an individual either in terms of blood link or intimate relationship, as being the person most likely to be concerned with another’s welfare. There has not been scope for those more informal relationships—the concept of “best” friend rather than “next” friend—to play a part in legal proceedings.

According to the Mental Health 1983 (MeHA 1983), for the paternalistic purpose of imposing detention and treatment of those who have been afflicted by mental disorder, the nearest relative can apply for the “committal” of a patient or object to his detention. He can also seek the release from detention of a person he believes has been—or now is—wrongly confined. One is here dealing with vulnerable patients, rendered infirm, usually temporarily, by mental disorder. As things stand, the patient has no say in who is chosen as the nearest relative. Only if such a nearest