5.  The applicant was born in 1958 and lives in Tauragė region.
6.  Since 1999 she has been diagnosed with several mental disorders, such as schizo-affective disorder, depression, mania, and panic disorder. She has been admitted to psychiatric hospitals multiple times. However, during the events described below, she retained full legal capacity (see paragraph 37 below).
7.  From February to September 2014 the applicant was given administrative penalties for insulting another person in a public place (minor hooliganism under Article 174 of the Code of Administrative Offences), for threatening a teenager with an electroshock device and for scaring a minor (infringement of children’s rights under Article 1813 of the Code of Administrative Offences).
8.  In 2013 the applicant bought a tear-gas dispenser. According to her, she had done so in order to defend herself against some inhabitants of her village who often insulted her because of her mental illness. On 16 November 2013, at around 7.30 p.m., the applicant sprayed tear gas at a fifteen-year-old called E. It appears that the tear gas caused E. physical pain but she did not suffer any injuries.
9.  The Tauragė police opened a pre-trial investigation against the applicant for breach of public order under Article 284 § 1 of the Criminal Code. Between November 2013 and January 2014 the police interviewed E. and several other teenagers who had been with her on the evening of 16 November 2013. They all stated that on that evening they had been “hanging out” near one of the residential buildings in the village when E. had decided to go to another friend’s house. When she had started walking, the applicant had suddenly appeared from around the corner, quickly approached E. and sprayed her in the eyes with tear gas. E. herself and the other interviewed teenagers stated that although E. had had some verbal conflicts with the applicant in the past, on that evening she had not done anything to provoke the applicant.
10.  On 18 December 2013 the police asked a court psychiatric centre in Klaipėda whether, in the light of the applicant’s history of mental illness, it was necessary for her to undergo a psychiatric assessment in order to determine whether she could be held criminally responsible for the offence. A psychiatric expert, having examined the applicant’s medical file, concluded that such an assessment was necessary.
11.  On 10 January 2014 the applicant was served with an official notice that she was suspected of having committed the offence provided under Article 284 § 1 of the Criminal Code. She was given State‑guaranteed legal aid. She was interviewed on that same day and admitted to having sprayed tear gas at E. However, she claimed to have done so in self‑defence – she stated that on the evening of 16 November 2013 E. had kicked the door of her apartment and had thrown a stone at her window.
12.  On 28 March 2014 the Tauragė district prosecutor informed the applicant and her lawyer that, in line with Article 209 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (see paragraph 42 below), it was necessary for the applicant to undergo a psychiatric assessment. The prosecutor appended a list of questions to be submitted to the psychiatric expert and informed the applicant and her lawyer that they had the right to submit additional questions and material for the assessment, as well as to ask for the appointment of a particular expert. The applicant and her lawyer did not respond.
13.  On 3 April 2014 the Tauragė District Court ordered a psychiatric assessment of the applicant. A copy of that order has not been provided to the Court. The applicant later submitted to the domestic courts that she had not been notified of it (see paragraph 22 below).
14.  It transpires from the parties’ submissions that on the morning of 15 April 2014 the applicant was present at the Tauragė police station for unspecified reasons, when two police officers handcuffed her, took her to a police car and drove her to the court psychiatric centre in Klaipėda, approximately 110 kilometres from Tauragė.
15.  A report drawn up on that same day by one of the officers who had seized the applicant read as follows:
“I hereby inform that on 15 April 2014 during the general morning meeting of the Prevention Sub-division, an oral instruction was received from [the chief] to execute the order of the Tauragė District Court, which ordered that [the applicant] be brought (atvesdinti) to the Klaipėda court psychiatric centre where she was to undergo a psychiatric assessment, in connection with an ongoing pre‑trial investigation. [The chief] announced that [the applicant] was waiting outside the Operative Management Division.
At around 8.40 a.m., together with [Officer D.P.], we ordered [the applicant to] go with the police officers into a police car, so that she could be taken to the Klaipėda court psychiatric centre to undergo a psychiatric assessment. However, [the applicant] mockingly responded that police officers did not have the right to take her anywhere, and threatened to have everyone who touched her fired. It was repeated several times [to the applicant] that coercion and special measures could be used against her for refusing to comply with lawful orders of police officers. As [the applicant] was not paying attention to these warnings, I took her hand, but [she] tried to bite my left palm; she did not succeed, so I did not need medical help. [The applicant] began to resist by jostling, stiffening her hands, and trying to get away. By doing so [she] resisted and disobeyed lawful orders. As [the applicant] continued disobeying officers’ lawful orders, with the help of [three other officers] [she] was handcuffed and taken to a [police] car.”
One of the other officers who had participated in the applicant’s seizure submitted a report with essentially the same wording.
16.  It is not clear when the applicant was released from the court psychiatric centre and how she returned to her home. The Government submitted that the psychiatric assessment had been completed on the same day and the applicant had not been detained any longer (see paragraph 64 below).
17.  According to the applicant, the police officers did not explain to her why she was being seized and did not draw up a record of provisional arrest (see paragraph 61 below).
18.  On 15 April 2014 the applicant was examined by two court‑appointed psychiatrists. The report of the assessment, drawn up on that same day, stated the following:
“The patient was brought to the assessment by police officers. At the beginning of the assessment she was hostile, outraged by the behaviour of the police, she spoke in a raised voice and refused to provide her anamnestic data. Having calmed down, she provided information about the main events of her life but her narration was characterised by strong emotional reactions (afektas) [which were] inappropriate to the situation, elevated mood and overestimation of herself. She had no complaints about her health, she thought that she was healthy and did not need any help.
...
The patient’s mental state during the assessment. [She had] a complete grasp of the time, the place and herself (orientuota pilnai laike, vietoje ir savyje). [She was wearing] bright make-up and clothes. At the beginning of the assessment [she was] outraged and loudly expressed dissatisfaction that police officers had brought her to the assessment by force, without her consent. She understood the purpose of the assessment. She stated that she did not have any illnesses and did not require treatment. She actively expressed discontent with the law-enforcement authorities and the inhabitants of her area. The patient’s mental condition is characterised by angry mania: joyful moods [which are] not appropriate to the situation, accelerated [mental] associations, excessive activity, at the same time expressions of anger, irritation, short temper. When talking about the major events in her life, she overestimates herself, underlines her achievements in her former professional life, her significant role in educating children at school. She expresses anger at the lifestyle of asocial families in the neighbourhood and the wider area [and says that] she is ready to not put up with it and to fight against it. [She does not display] a critical view of her illness (be esminės kritikos susirgimo atžvilgiu). She speaks loudly about the criminal allegations against her, denies them and blames the victim, her parents and the surroundings.”
19.  The report concluded that the applicant had a chronic mental disorder ‑ schizo-affective disorder with a type of mania (lėtinis psichikos sutrikimas ‑ šizoafektinis sutrikimas, manijos tipas), that because of that disorder she had been incapable of understanding and controlling her actions at the time of the alleged criminal offence, and that those circumstances persisted at the time of the assessment. The psychiatrists recommended that the applicant not be called before a court, nor subjected to any procedural measures, and that she be admitted to Rokiškis Psychiatric Hospital for compulsory inpatient treatment.
20.  On 22 April 2014 an administrative-violation report was drawn up against the applicant for having violently resisted police officers on 15 April 2014 (see paragraph 14 above). The Tauragė District Court held an oral hearing on 2 June 2014 in which the applicant was present. Relying on the abovementioned psychiatric assessment (see paragraphs 18 and 19 above), the court discontinued the administrative proceedings on the grounds that the applicant could not be held liable for the offence.
21.  On 3 June 2014 the prosecutor referred the case to the Tauragė District Court and asked the court to order compulsory medical treatment for the applicant (taikyti priverčiamąsias medicinos priemones).
22.  On 11 June 2014 the applicant sent a letter to the Tauragė District Court, stating that she was not aware whether there were any ongoing criminal proceedings against her and asking the court to inform her of any such proceedings and of her procedural status in them. She also stated that she had not been notified of any court order to take her for a psychiatric assessment against her will (see paragraph 13 above) and asked to be provided with a copy of such an order. The following day the applicant received a response from the court informing her of the proceedings concerning compulsory medical treatment (see paragraph 21 above). The court also stated that the file of that case did not contain any order to take her for a psychiatric assessment against her will.
23.  On 17 June 2014 the applicant sent another letter to the Tauragė District Court. In it she asked to be given an opportunity to attend the court’s hearing in the case concerning compulsory medical treatment which would be held on 30 June 2014. She did not receive any response from the court.
24.  On 26 June 2014 the applicant was voluntarily admitted to a psychiatric hospital in Klaipėda.
25.  On 30 June 2014 the Tauragė District Court held a hearing in the case against the applicant concerning compulsory medical treatment. The applicant was absent from the hearing but her lawyer was present.
26.  The court heard one of the psychiatrists who had examined the applicant (see paragraphs 18 and 19 above). He gave the following responses to the questions submitted to him by the judge and the applicant’s lawyer (the questions were not included in the minutes of the hearing):
“I stand by my responses given in the assessment report.”
“As of this moment, I cannot say if procedural steps can be conducted with [the applicant]. As I understand from [the documents provided by the court], she is currently undergoing treatment ... I understand that she underwent treatment already in May ... at a psychiatric hospital. The treatment was not effective because [later] she was hospitalised again. I think that it is necessary to order compulsory medical treatment.”
“Right now I cannot say precisely if inpatient treatment at Rokiškis Psychiatric Hospital is necessary because she is currently being treated at [Klaipėda hospital]. [It appears] that that treatment is not sufficiently effective. I recommend inpatient treatment.”
The psychiatrist also stated that the treatment provided to the applicant at the Klaipėda hospital constituted “psychiatric supervision” (psichikos priežiūra) which was different from compulsory treatment; the applicant had undergone outpatient treatment before and it had not been effective. He further considered that compulsory treatment was necessary because the applicant lived alone and refused to take medication, and there was nobody to take care of her if her mental health deteriorated.
27.  The applicant’s lawyer argued before the court that since the psychiatric assessment the applicant’s mental health had improved considerably because she was undergoing treatment (see paragraph 24 above). He submitted that it would not be appropriate to order compulsory treatment without examining the effects of that treatment and that it was therefore necessary to conduct a fresh psychiatric assessment.
28.  On 1 July 2014 the Tauragė District Court adopted a one-and-a-half page decision ordering the applicant’s inpatient treatment under general supervision at Rokiškis Psychiatric Hospital (see paragraph 46 below). The court held that the applicant’s guilt in respect of the criminal offence had been proved by witness testimonies and the applicant’s own statements (see paragraphs 9 and 11 above). It then referred to the findings of the psychiatric assessment that the applicant had a chronic mental disorder which rendered her incapable of understanding and controlling her actions, unable to participate in the pre-trial investigation and the hearing, and for which she required hospitalisation (see paragraphs 18 and 19 above). The court also cited the statements of the psychiatric expert given during the hearing, who also recommended compulsory inpatient treatment for the applicant (see paragraph 26 above). It concluded that at the time of the offence, as well as at the time of the decision, the applicant could not be held criminally responsible (buvo ir šiuo metu yra nepakaltinama). The court exempted the applicant from criminal responsibility and ordered her hospitalisation at the psychiatric hospital in Rokiškis.
29.  The applicant lodged an appeal against that decision. She submitted that she had been informed of the possibility to subject her to compulsory treatment only on 12 June 2014 (see paragraph 22 above) and complained that she had not been summoned to the hearing, despite having expressed a wish to attend (see paragraph 23 above). She complained that the first‑instance court had not adequately assessed her mental condition because it had not examined her in person, had not heard evidence from the doctor treating her and had not ordered a fresh psychiatric assessment, despite the fact that since June 2014 she had been voluntarily undergoing psychiatric treatment. The applicant pointed out that the psychiatrist interviewed by the court had acknowledged that he had been unable to comment on her mental condition at the time of the hearing (see paragraph 26 above). The applicant further complained about the court’s decision to hospitalise her rather than order outpatient treatment. She submitted that the court had not assessed whether she had posed a danger to society – the applicant submitted that the offence which she had committed had not been serious and that she had committed it because of the pre‑existing conflict between E. and herself and not because of her mental disorder, so the disorder had not made her a danger to others. The applicant also complained about the court’s decision to commit her to a hospital in Rokiškis (more than 200 kilometres from Tauragė) and not one which was closer to her home.
30.  In the appeal the applicant also raised complaints about being taken for a psychiatric assessment without her consent on 15 April 2014. She submitted that she had not been informed that a psychiatric assessment had been ordered and had not been provided with a court order to that effect, that a record of provisional arrest had not been drawn up, a lawyer had not been present during the assessment, and she had not been informed about her right to request the removal of experts. She also submitted that the experts’ conclusions had not indicated what kind of assessment had been performed and that they had not been adequately reasoned.
31.  On 26 September 2014 the Klaipėda Regional Court held a hearing in which the applicant was absent but her lawyer was present.
32.  On that same day the Klaipėda Regional Court adopted a decision which was slightly over two pages long and dismissed the applicant’s appeal. It held that the first-instance court had correctly established all the essential circumstances of the case and had adequately reasoned its findings. The court considered that the danger posed by the applicant to society had been proved by the conclusions of the psychiatric assessment (see paragraphs 18 and 19 above) and the psychiatrist heard by the first-instance court (see paragraph 26 above). It also observed that the applicant had been previously treated in psychiatric hospitals seventeen times, which demonstrated that the treatment had not led to any long-term improvement of her mental health. The court concluded:
“All the aforementioned circumstances demonstrate that [the applicant] is a danger to society, her actions present a threat to others, [and] she cannot ensure adequate medical treatment and care for herself because she lives alone, so outpatient treatment would not be sufficient.
The appellate court considers that the arguments in [the applicant’s] appeal confirm that she cannot critically assess her disorder [and] does not understand the danger presented by her mental condition, nor the need for treatment (apeliaciniame skunde nurodomi argumentai patvirtina, jog ji nėra kritiška savo ligos atžvilgiu, nesuvokia savo psichinės būklės pavojingumo ir poreikio gydytis).”
The court did not address the arguments presented in the applicant’s appeal (see paragraphs 29 and 30 above) any further.
33.  On 31 October 2014 the Supreme Court refused to examine an appeal on points of law submitted by the applicant on the grounds that it raised no important legal questions.
34.  On 13 November 2014 the applicant was taken by the police to the psychiatric hospital in Rokiškis for compulsory treatment. On 22 May 2015 the Rokiškis District Court ruled, on the basis of the information provided by the hospital, that her mental health had not sufficiently improved, and extended the hospitalisation; the applicant did not appeal against that decision. On 6 November 2015 that same court found that the applicant’s mental health had sufficiently improved, ended her hospitalisation and ordered compulsory outpatient treatment. On 25 April 2016 the Tauragė District Court, relying on the recommendation of the doctor in charge of the applicant’s treatment, ended her compulsory outpatient treatment.
35.  On 27 September 2016 the Klaipėda Psychiatric Hospital asked a court to order the applicant’s hospitalisation. It submitted that the applicant had been taken to the hospital by the police, at the referral of a psychiatrist in Tauragė, because her mental health had deteriorated. On that same day the Šilutė District Court ordered the applicant’s hospitalisation for thirty days.
36.  On 28 November 2016 the Tauragė District Court found the applicant guilty of terrorising others and breaching public order, but considered that she could not be held criminally responsible and thus ordered her psychiatric hospitalisation. However, on 13 April 2017 the Klaipėda Regional Court quashed that decision. It found that those offences had not been committed, and discontinued the proceedings against the applicant.
37.  In May 2017 the social-care authorities of the Tauragė municipality applied to a court to restrict the applicant’s legal capacity in certain areas, relying on her mental disorder and her inability to take proper care of herself. The applicant objected to that request. On 10 August 2017 the Tauragė District Court, in a hearing in which the applicant and her lawyer were present, declared the applicant legally incapacitated in certain areas, and partly restricted her legal capacity in certain other areas.
According to the information submitted to the Court, the applicant appealed against that decision and at the time of the present judgment the appellate proceedings were pending.
38.  On 17 November 2014 the Tauragė District Court found E. (see paragraph 8 above) guilty of hitting the applicant in the face and causing her minor bodily harm. The court found that on 3 April 2014 the applicant had tried to take E.’s mobile phone from her and had scratched her face, and E. had then hit her. The court considered that E.’s actions could not be characterised as self-defence but as a deliberate attempt to injure the applicant. E. was sentenced to four months’ deprivation of liberty. The applicant was awarded 300 Lithuanian litai (LTL – approximately 87 euros (EUR)) in respect of non-pecuniary damage.