The Open Justice Court of Protection Project is independent of any public body or university. The Project is run on a voluntary basis by five members of the public, none of whom are lawyers or journalists. Please note we are unable to give legal advice about your case. We can (and often do) offer lay advice regarding variation and discharge of Transparency Orders – do contact us if this is something you want more information about.
The Open Justice Court of Protection Project was founded in June 2020 (shortly after the first pandemic lockdown) to support the judical aspiration for transparency in the Court of Protection – an English court, established in its current form under the Mental Capacity Act 2005, with the authority to determine whether adults have the mental capacity to make key decisions in their lives (such as where they live, whether they undergo serious medical treatment, whether they maintain contact with family members), and to make decisions in the best interests of those deemed to lack capacity.
The decisions made by the court on behalf of some of the most vulnerable members of society can be life-changing, and the case law it produces impacts on the human rights of disabled people far beyond the walls of the court rooms.
In 2016, the “Court of Protection Transparency Pilot” was launched with the aim of increasing access to the court for the public and the media (click here to find out more about the background of transparency in the Court of Protection, along with how it differs from the Family Courts). The Pilot has since been adopted into court procedure, and provides an avenue for public scrutiny of the court’s work, and an opportunity for health, social care, and voluntary sector professionals whose work is shaped by the Mental Capacity Act 2005 to gain insights into court practice.
We encourage public access to the court by raising awareness of the public’s right to observe hearings as set out by the Transparency Pilot. We share court listings, with details of hearings that are open to the public; we provide information and practical support for people wishing to observe the Court of Protection in action, including regular educational webinars and a WhatsApp support group for observers; we report on hearings we’ve observed; we provide links to published judgments, and updates on developments in the court. We are not seeking to promote a particular perspective on the Court of Protection but to give people the information they need to access the court themselves and to form their own views. You can download our Project Policy by clicking on the download link below and you can get in touch with us via our Contact Page.
Finance Committee: We have been unfunded for our first five years. We have recently formed a Finance Committee (Celia Kitzinger and Claire Martin (Treasurer)) with the intention of applying for some funding to support travel to observe hearings in person and the day-to-day running of the Project. We will update here if/when we have further news.
(Please contact us via the Contact Page if you require our policy or guidance for bloggers in a format other than pdf and we will do our best to help)
Promoting Open Justice in the Court of Protection 