Quasi-coerced treatment ethical aspects Pompidou Group Dialog between the two Plateforms Criminal Justice and Ethics René Padieu, September 10 th, 2009

Quasi-coerced treatments - ethics2 For a dialog about ethics Following the Cavtat meeting (October 2008) 1.What is ethics about ? 2.Some issues

1 What is ethics about ?

Quasi-coerced treatments - ethics4 What is ethics about ? [1]  We obey a multitude of rules  Explicit or implicit  Moral code or formal law  Ranging from civilisation principles to practical guidelines  Which vary according to contexts (cultural, professional, …)

Quasi-coerced treatments - ethics5 What is ethics about ? [2] Those diverse rules often contradict Every body casts his own balance between those rules and seeks to impose it Ethics, on the contrary, invites us to :  Take into account the other points of view  Examine the foundation of our own rules

Quasi-coerced treatments - ethics6  Those unavoidable contradictions are settled through decisions, laws or conventions, which can have neither universal nor definitive validity…  They are bound to contest, though legitimate or not  Ethical reflexion aims at solving such disputes – casually at preventing them What is ethics about ? [3]

Quasi-coerced treatments - ethics7  The “Ethics” platform does not aim at telling which rules or actions are acceptable or not,  but invites the players (including those of the Justice PF) to question themselves about - the founding, - the consequences and - the interactions of the rules ( R ) that guide their actions. What is ethics about ? [4] R  ? R RR R ?  R

2 Some ethical issues

Quasi-coerced treatments - ethics9 Some ethical issues [1] Punishment (prison…) may serve several purposes: repayment for offence against public order / protection of society / rehabilitation and reintegration of the offender.  While choosing it, is it clear which of those the goal is sought?  Then, does one keep in mind other values and goals ?

Quasi-coerced treatments - ethics10 Some ethical issues [2]  How do - free will and responsibility, - alienated mind due to addiction, - consent to the treatment fit together ?

Quasi-coerced treatments - ethics11 Some ethical issues [3] Dual status delinquent / diseased : various penal or treatment paths.  Who evaluates – and on which groundings – the opportunity of those different paths?  Is any drug user sent to treatment ? Or only addict persons?

Quasi-coerced treatments - ethics12 Some ethical issues [4] Co-operation between justice and medicine.  Are there shared goals ?  How substituting the doctor to the judge is understood?  Do doctors and judges, respectively, support compulsory treatment?  What about follow up and reporting?

Quasi-coerced treatments - ethics13 Some ethical issues [5]  How do the two institutions (Justice and Medicine) understand that our societies refer to them for dealing with personality disorders ?

Quasi-coerced treatments - ethics14 General remark  The drug issue is extremely complex  Each people or organisation inclines to reduce the problems to what is more meaningful to them  How can we avoid disregarding that material complexity and encompass it all?

Quasi-coerced treatments - ethics15 …by way of no-conclusion  The above listed questions are given here as mere examples  Only a collective reflexion shall lead to some appropriate questioning. thank you for contributing