Shanghai man uses new health law to win release from psychiatric hospital

A Shanghai man has been released from a psychiatric hospital, where he had been forced to stay since 2003, after a judicial appraisal showed that he had recovered from schizophrenia.

The 51-year-old Shanghai native, surnamed Xu, said a forensic science center of the Ministry of Justice found in July that he has full capacity for civil conduct, and the Shanghai Youth Psychiatric Rehabilitation Hospital has agreed to let him leave.

Xu had taken the hospital and his eldest brother Xu Canxing - who was acting as his guardian - to court several times for "infringing upon his right to personal liberty". It was seen as the first case involving a mental health law that required the patient's voluntary consent for hospitalization.