[Aspects of the legal concession and its procedures concerning the commitment of juveniles to safe custody institutions in youth welfare care according to German (section sign) 1631 b BGB -- an Inquiry into 101 cases of adolescent psychiatric expertise].
OBJECTIVE
Legal procedures concerning the legal concession of juveniles to safe custody care in youth welfare according to German section sign 1631 b BGB were to be examined.


METHODS
101 cases of adolescent psychiatric expertise were retrospectively examined.


RESULTS
Legal procedures were unsatisfactory. A guardian ("Verfahrenspfleger" according to German law) was usually not named (79.2 %), especially not in cases of juveniles under 14 years of age (94 %) who cannot take part in the procedure on their own right, and not in cases of foreigners (89 %). In a number of cases the adolescence psychiatrist did not agree with statement of the youth welfare office regarding the juvenile confinement. In cases where the expert's counsel was a "process diagnosis" evaluating the juvenile's concrete ability to cooperate and to accept alternative forms of placement, closed commitment could be reduced significantly. Experts did not precisely term of commitment in a number of cases (15.9 %).


CONCLUSIONS
Legal procedures concerning the legal commitment of juveniles to safe custody care in youth welfare institutions are partly unsatisfactory, especially according to the juvenile's rights regarding the legal procedure and the ways, how these rights are safeguarded.
Rüth
U
U
Heckscher-Klinik für Kinder- und Jugendpsychiatrie und Psychotherapie des Bezirks Oberbayern, München. ulrich.rueth@heckscher-klinik.de
Wentzel
A
A
Freisleder
F J
FJ
D000293:Adolescent; D000296:Adolescent Psychiatry / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence; D002648:Child; D002651:Child Advocacy / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence; D002655:Child Custody / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence*; D002669:Child Welfare / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence*; D003134:Commitment of Persons with Psychiatric Disorders / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence*; D005104:Expert Testimony / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence*; D005260:Female; D005858:Germany; D006801:Humans; D007872:Legal Guardians; D007902:Length of Stay / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence; D008297:Male; D012189:Retrospective Studies