legal 180x120Mental health charity Mind has launched a range of online legal publications after seeing calls to its legal helpline on subjects from the Mental Capacity Act to employment discrimination more than a double in the past year.

Developed in consultation with legal experts and people with lived experience of mental ill health, Mind's new guides aim to explain in a simple and practical way what a person’s legal rights are and what they can do to assert them.

Ali Fiddy, head of legal at Mind, said: "We know it’s increasingly difficult for people to access legal aid, and as a result Mind’s legal helpline has seen a huge rise in calls. It’s difficult to live with a mental health problem at the best of times, but when something bad happens to you on top of that, it can make you feel even more unwell. That’s why we’re launching new online publications to help people to understand their legal rights and how to assert them."

The new publications, available to download from Mind's website, cover topics including:
• Disability discrimination
• Discrimination at work
• Nearest relative
• Human Rights Act
• Mental Capacity Act
• Sectioning
• My right to work with children and vulnerable adults
• My personal information
• Fitness to drive.

From May 2013 to May 2014 advisers on the charity's legal helpline received 1,029 calls, a significant increase on the 675 calls received between May 2012 and May 2013. Fiddy added that this is a sign that while more employers are willing to support workers with mental health conditions, there remains much room for greater knowledge of employment law on behalf of employer and employee.

To download the guides in full visit: www.mind.org.uk