Denmark convicted over 11-day restraint of psychiatric patient

Denmark violated the prohibition against torture and degrading treatment in a case involving an 11-day restraint of a psychiatric patient, the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) ruled Tuesday, DR reports.

The court ordered Denmark to pay €20,000 (around 150,000 Danish kroner) in compensation to the man, who was restrained with belts for 11 days, 10 hours, and 48 minutes in 2016. According to the Danish Institute for Human Rights, this is the longest restraint period the ECHR has ever assessed, surpassing an eight-day case in Italy.

The man, who has schizophrenia, was involuntarily admitted to a psychiatric facility on June 3, 2016. Later that day, he stabbed a nurse in the back of the head and upper back with a fork, leading to his restraint. The measure lasted until June 16, when he was transferred to a secure forensic psychiatric unit. During the restraint, he was allowed 30 minutes daily without fixation—under supervision—to bathe or smoke.

Denmark’s Psychiatric Patient Complaints Board later ruled the restraint unlawful from June 5 at 09:30. The man argued before the ECHR that the measure violated Article 3 of the European Convention on Human Rights, which prohibits torture and inhuman treatment, and that authorities had not justified the necessity of such prolonged restraint.

Restraint with belts is common in Danish adult psychiatry. In 2024, there were 3,855 recorded cases, averaging 17 hours each, according to a report by the Task Force for Prevention of Coercion in Psychiatry.