Mental Health and the Disability Equality Duty

Just as I have been saying on ppeyes that mental health service users in the main are not using the Disability Discrimination Acts’ Disability Equality Duty requirements, MIND’s legal section have launched this appeal:

1. Time to Challenge
Time to Challenge is part of Time to Change, England's most ambitious programme to end discrimination faced by people who experience mental health problems. Further information is available on the Time to Change website.
Time to Challenge aims to challenge discrimination against people who experience mental health problems, by taking cases through the courts. 

Time to Challenge is now looking for people with experience of mental health problems who come within the definition of disability for the purposes of the DDA 1995. 

These people must have a mental impairment that affects their ability to carry out normal day to day activities and this must be substantial, adverse and long term, i.e. it must have lasted or be likely to last at least 12 months or for the rest of the life of the person concerned.
We are interested in test cases which allow people with mental health problems to use existing laws to challenge mental health stigma and discrimination.
We are looking for examples of people with mental health problems who have experienced discrimination in employment, in the provision of goods and services and in relation to the retention of data by hospitals or the police concerning their condition.
We are only able to become actively involved where a case meets our casework criteria. To meet our casework criteria a case:

• Must raise a point of public importance not yet addressed with any clarity in law.


• Must be capable of being used to challenge existing legislation or case law.

If you think you have a case which might fall within the criteria, please contact the legal unit at legalunit@mind.org.uk.