The Ministry of Justice intends to limit the number of individuals undergoing compulsory treatment for alcohol addiction imposed by the court, confining the obligation to criminal offenders only.

This does not mean doing away with the obligation altogether, but simply adapting the regulations to real life, so as to boost effectiveness, says Sławomir Pałka, deputy head of the ministry’s department for decision implementation and probation.

Presently, the district court can compel alcohol abusers to undergo treatment upon the request of the family. The court may only take action in the case of those whose conduct leads to the disintegration of the family, depravation of minors, and those who refrain from work, and disturb public peace.

The current system is based on obsolete regulations that take up around 23 million euro a year. Sławomir Pałka believes the changes are necessary since treatment is ineffective if the individual does not consent to it, and it very often happens that in three fourths of the cases the patients never show up.

According to the planned amendments the law would apply only to criminal offenders, those suffering from alcohol-induced psychosis, and to life-saving situations.

The amendment bill has been forwarded to the Ministry of Health, which is currently modifying the Act on the Upbringing in Sobriety and Counteracting Alcoholism, with the aim of combining the two bills.