What does it mean to be an expert in the person? The Court of Protection decides
EIn University College London Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust v HER & Anor [2024] EWCOP 25, Senior Judge Hilder had to consider what (if any) weight to place on the opinion of P’s sister as to her...
View ArticleThe inherent jurisdiction – a case, guidance, and a challenge from Ireland
Two recently published decisions of Cobb J have shone a light on the lesser spotted beast of the inherent jurisdiction of the High Court to protect adults who are vulnerable[1] but who do not fall...
View ArticleLife in the balance in ITU – in conversation with Dr Jim Down
In this “in conversation with”, I talk to Dr Jim Down about a whole host of matters related to intensive care, inspired by his recent book, Life in the Balance. We cover the realities of being in ICU,...
View ArticleWhere every option is problematic and the optimism of best interests is not...
The Court of Appeal has dismissed the appeal of both the local authority and the Official Solicitor against the decision of Poole J in Re A (Covert Medication: Residence) [2024] EWCOP 19. This 5-year...
View ArticleA legal framework under intense stress: the MHA 1983 under the judicial...
One of the most difficult areas where the law runs up against practical realities is in relation to addressing the consequences of a mental health crisis requiring potential admission to hospital. In...
View ArticleBrain stem death and the courts – what to do where there is no clinical...
University Hospitals Bristol and Weston NHS Foundation v The Mother of G [2024] EWHC 1288 (Fam) adds to the small but growing body of case-law on the practice and procedure surrounding applications for...
View ArticleCapacity and contempt proceedings – what is the test?
What is the test to decide whether you can defend yourself against a charge that you are in contempt of court? That was the question before the Court of Appeal in Solicitors Regulation Authority Ltd v...
View ArticleWhat is a headnoted law report, and why does it matter?
In this video, I walk through an example of a judicially approved headnote to a Court of Protection case. It serves as shameless (but I will shamelessly suggest justified) promotion for the Court of...
View ArticleCapacity, habitual residence, and internet use in Scotland – a Court of...
In Newcastle City Council v LM [2023] EWCOP 69, David Rees KC (sitting as a Tier 3 Judge of the Court of Protection) helpfully set out guidance (at paragraph 46) as to what has to be done where there...
View Article39 Essex Chambers June 2024 Mental Capacity Report
The June 2024 Mental Capacity Report is now out. Highlights this month include: (1) In the Health, Welfare and Deprivation of Liberty Report: when no option is a good one, snapshots from the...
View ArticleHow far can the Court of Protection go to ensure its orders are complied with?
In LB Hackney v A, B and C [2024] EWCOP 33, John McKendrick KC has answered a question which, as he noted, had curiously not been answered since the MCA 2005 came into force – namely how far-reaching a...
View ArticleThe human condition and physician assisted dying – the latest view from the...
In Karsai v Hungary [2024] ECHR 516, the European Court of Human Rights has made clear that, whatever the current political head of steam behind moves towards legalising assisted dying / assisted...
View ArticleCapacity, sexual relations, silos and public protection – an impossible...
In A Local Authority v ZX [2024] EWCOP 30, HHJ Burrows was confronted, to his considerable (and understandable) disquiet, with the need to determine whether an 18 year old man had capacity to make...
View ArticleRisk-taking, best interests and health and welfare deputies
AB v CD [2024] EWCOP 32 concerned the best interests of a 27 year old man with a moderate learning disability, and visual and hearing impairments. At heart, it was a dispute between his mother, who had...
View ArticleThe SEND Tribunal, litigation capacity, and the complexity of the...
With thanks to Matthew Wyard of 3PB for bringing this case to my attention, MM (C) v RB Greenwich [2024] UKUT 179 (AAC) is an extremely comprehensive decision of the Upper Tribunal, setting out...
View ArticleCapacity for care providers
In this video, I seek to answer a question I very often get asked – namely “why do I keep having to fill out capacity assessments?” I talk about why thinking about capacity is important, when to think...
View ArticleDecision-making capacity and mental health law – the Norwegian experience: in...
In this ‘in conversation with’, I talk to Jacob Jorem, a Norwegian psychiatrist, lawyer and researcher, about the Norwegian experience introducing decision-making capacity into (at least part of)...
View ArticleLocal authorities, care orders and consent to confinement – another striking...
Lieven J’s campaign against the decision of the Supreme Court in Cheshire West continues. In Re J: Local Authority consent to Deprivation of Liberty [2024] EWHC 1690 (Fam), she has held that a local...
View ArticleMental capacity, mental health and assisted dying – for the Government in-tray
For those wanting to get themselves up to speed in new posts, a few resources: On deprivation of liberty – the state of play after the decision not to proceed in the previous Parliament with the...
View ArticleWhat’s in name? Competence and capacity (and is it enough for a child)?
In Re BC (Child in Care: Change of Forename and Surname) [2024] EWHC 1639 (Fam), Poole J approved a request by a 15 year old subject to a care order to change both her first and last name “because...
View Article