People with mental disorders are exposed to a wide range of human rights violations both within the health care context and the broader community. Mental health laws are an essential means of promoting and protecting their rights, but despite this, countries all over the world fail to legislate effectively, if at all, in this area. "The WHO Resource Book on Mental Health, Human Rights and Legislation" brings together important information on international human rights standards related to mental health. It provides practical guidance on key issues that countries need to consider and incorporate into their national mental health laws, as well as useful strategies to facilitate the development, adoption and implementation of the laws. The Resource Book is illustrated throughout with examples of diverse experiences and practices, as well as extracts of laws and other law-related documents from different countries. It also contains a Checklist on mental health legislation which countries can use to review the comprehensiveness and adequacy of existing mental health legislation and to help them in the process of drafting a new law.