The Lunatics Act of 1838

The Lunatics Act of 1838

Why did France have to wait until 1838 to finally pass a law mandating the internment of lunatics?

There are three explanations to this:

- the institutional chaos left by the abolition of the “lettres de cachet” (letters countersigned by one of the King of France’s ministers and closed with a royal seal) and the misfortunes of politics since 1789

- the chronic and consecutive thirst for finances

- and most of all the fundamental ambiguity of the committal act

The act sought to lock away the individuals who could harm the society and sought to provide help to mentally ill people.

The Parliamentary debate was very long and the the Act was finally voted in 22March 1838 and signed into a law in 30 June of the same year.

So what does this Act, which will remain until 1990, say?

- That every French department must have an institution for the internment of lunatics (public or private)

- That the public authority manages the public institutions and supervises the private establishments

- That the internments are subjected to precise regulation where medical certificates must be recorded appropriately

The dismissals of patients are pronounced by the Prefect and determined by a doctor under the control of the prosecutor.

There are two sorts of internments which could be voluntary (decided by the family of the patient) or compulsory (decided by the French authority when it considers that the public order/ safety of people are threatened)

The great innovation of the Act is that the duties of the French departments are not only to confine dangerous