Team:
  • Ave Anniste
  • Egert Rünne
  • Liina Laanpere

The project addresses the complex tension between ensuring safety and protecting fundamental rights in psychiatric hospitals and other closed institutions. By combining comparative legal analysis, lived-experience evidence and the co-creation of guidelines, it promotes awareness, accountability and cross-border exchange of experience. Although the use of surveillance cameras is increasingly common with the aim of preventing self-harm, violence or sudden deterioration of health, it raises serious concerns regarding human dignity, privacy, data protection and non-discrimination. The project is grounded in the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights – in particular Articles 1 (human dignity), 7 (respect for private and family life), 8 (protection of personal data), 21 (non-discrimination), 23 (equality between women and men) and 25 (the rights of the elderly) – and strengthens the capacity of civil society, healthcare professionals and oversight bodies to apply the Charter in practice.

Main activities:

  • Comparative legal and policy analysis
  • Semi-structured, trauma-informed interviews and lived-experience stories
  • Development of guidelines and local roundtables to validate them
  • Awareness-raising activities

The project runs for 24 months, with activities taking place in all five partner countries: Czechia, Estonia, Slovakia, Latvia and Italy. The project is co-funded by the European Union and the National Foundation of Civil Society in the amount of €5,985.00.