RESUMO
Medicine and its practice have a responsibility not to cause harm. Ethical values lie at the heart of clinical practice. Ethical values are even more important in psychiatry –a medical discipline where its practitioners have been handed responsibility for detaining and treating patients against their will. This responsibility needs to be taken seriously and utilised within the context of clinical practice and ethical values. Various organisations have developed codes of ethical practice and it is vital that practitioners are aware of these. These codes include respect for patients and standards of clinical practice. The basis of these codes is reliant on the concepts of principlism which includes respect for autonomy, beneficience, justice and nonmaleficence. These also impact on human rights and influence outcomes. Ethics must form a part of the curricula at all levels.