Non committal multiculturalism has long kept the conservatism of Dutch Moroccans and Dutch Turks hidden from the public eye.

On 5 February 1998 and on the basis of this evidence, the Torun District Court ordered the author's committal.

The author's committal to a psychiatric institution was ordered by a competent, independent and impartial court established by law.

For these reasons, the Committee finds that the author's committal was arbitrary under article 9, paragraph 1, of the Covenant.

The committal order was at the request of the author's sister and followed a hearing at which an expert psychiatrist gave evidence.

The author claims that her committal to a psychiatric institution against her will amounted to a violation of article 7 of the Covenant.

The jurisdiction of the Court is limited to offences triable summarily, committal proceedings and certain inquiries together with civil litigation up to a prescribed level.

The Court adopted its decision having heard an expert psychiatrist, and having carefully examined the grounds for the author's committal provided in the Mental Health Protection Act.

The Committee considers that the author's sister was not in a position to provide such assistance or representation, as she had herself requested the committal order in the first place.

As to whether the committal was lawful, the Committee notes that it was carried out in accordance with the relevant articles of the Mental Health Protection Act and was, thus, lawfully carried out.

In the Committee's view, the author's right to challenge her detention was rendered ineffective by the State party's failure to serve the committal order on her prior to the deadline to lodge an appeal.

In the State party's view, the prohibition of arbitrary detention in article 9 does not imply an obligation to serve judicial decisions concerning the committal of an individual to a psychiatric institution automatically on the person concerned.

The Committee acknowledges that circumstances may arise in which an individual's mental health is so impaired that so as to avoid harm to the individual or others, the issuance of a committal order, without assistance or representation sufficient to safeguard her rights, may be unavoidable.

On 30 November 1985, some of the author's colleagues, but not the author himself, submitted an application to the Supreme Court for the committal of the Director General and the Board of Directors of CBC for disobeying the decision of the Court of 3 May 1985.

(a) In R. v. Askov, a delay of up to two years between the date of committal for trial and the trial itself was held to be in violation of an accused's right to be tried within a reasonable time, as guaranteed by the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.