Council of Europe Committee of Ministers meeting (June 2026) — review of guardianship in Romania

Meeting of the Committee of Ministers on human rights (09.06–11.06.2026). Review of the execution of the ECHR judgments against Romania concerning the rights of persons with intellectual and psycho-social disabilities. Incomplete re-assessment of persons placed under legal interdiction — Law no. 140/2022.

Following my previous article, in which I presented the shortcomings in the implementation of Law 140/2022 based on the national statistics centralised by the Superior Council of Magistracy and on my own report for Ilfov County — both drawn up three years after the new legislation for persons with intellectual and psycho-social disabilities entered into force — we now also have a comprehensive analysis of these issues from the Council of Europe's Committee of Ministers, in the context of the meeting held two weeks ago. This article summarises the main points retained by the Committee at that meeting.

1. Since 2012, the European Court of Human Rights has delivered several judgments concerning Romania, finding violations of the fundamental rights guaranteed by the Convention — serious, long-standing deficiencies affecting the rights of patients placed in mental-health and social-care institutions, including overcrowding, poor living conditions, inadequate care, and gaps in the procedures and safeguards governing involuntary placement and psychiatric treatment.

2. The Committee recalled that the Mental Health Action Plan for 2024–2029 remains the main framework for the general measures intended to remedy the serious deficiencies in the mental-health care system and in the treatment of persons with mental-health conditions or intellectual disabilities.

3. It also stressed that, according to the recent findings of the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CPT), the Ombudsman, the National Monitoring Council and NGOs, serious deficiencies persist in the system of legal protection, as well as in the living conditions, care and treatment of persons in mental-health and social-care institutions, and the risk of repeated violations remains.

4. It firmly called on the authorities to remedy these deficiencies as a matter of priority — by ensuring that patients' needs are met, eradicating ill-treatment, completing the re-assessment of interdiction measures, adopting legislation on independent personal representation, and establishing effective safeguards and access to remedies.

5. The national authorities reported overcrowding, particularly in the four psychiatric and safety-measure hospitals, with an average occupancy of around 160%, including cases of bed-sharing.

6. The Committee noted that the significant staff shortage further undermines the provision of mental-health services.

7. It also concluded that, at present, the measures reported by the national authorities consist mainly of recommendations and proposals rather than concrete action, and it is unclear how they fit into the existing Action Plan. The available evidence does not yet show that the risk of new violations has been effectively reduced.

8. The continued implementation of Law no. 140/2022 remains a central element of the execution process. The re-assessment of persons placed under interdiction is at an advanced stage, with most previous measures depriving persons of legal capacity having been replaced by special guardianship, but the process is not yet complete. The average length of proceedings remains high, and the Judicial Inspection highlights persistent operational difficulties. These findings reflect the need to strengthen the existing procedures.

9. The Committee wished to emphasise that the re-assessment of all persons previously placed under interdiction (editor's note: under the former legislation) should be completed without delay, and that priority should be given to finalising and adopting legislation establishing an independent personal-representation mechanism.

10. The information available does not indicate that decisions on placement in, and retention within, institutions are consistently based on the specific needs, will and preferences of the persons concerned, nor that the safeguards on involuntary hospitalisation, informed consent to treatment, access to legal assistance and effective complaint mechanisms are fully implemented in all relevant institutions. This is confirmed by the findings of the CPT¹, further highlighted by the observations of the Ombudsman and civil society, and underlined by the postponement of the reform of Law no. 487/2002 until the second quarter of 2027.

11. In conclusion, the Committee noted that the authorities have made some progress, particularly as regards data collection, hospital visits, infrastructure modernisation and legal-capacity reform measures. However, the main concerns previously identified by the Committee and reiterated in the recent findings of the CPT and other key actors remain largely unresolved. These include overcrowding (particularly in psychiatric and safety-measure hospitals), staff shortages, the incomplete re-assessment of interdiction measures, the absence of a mechanism for independent personal representatives, and insufficient safeguards against ill-treatment, involuntary hospitalisation and involuntary treatment.

Source: 1563rd meeting (9–11 June 2026) (DH) – H46-29 Centre for Legal Resources on behalf of Valentin Câmpeanu group (Application No. 47848/08), Cristian Teodorescu group (Application No. 22883/05), Parascineti (Application No. 32060/05) and N. group (Application No. 59152/08) v. Romania — https://share.google/Is2S14dTiQT2KK9M9

1. European Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CPT)