By Ty Glover, 25th February 2024 I’m a Consultant in Eating Disorders Psychiatry, an Independent Medicolegal Expert and a member of the Royal College of Psychiatrists for over 25 years. My clinical career has been spent managing acutely unwell NHS patients in Independent Sector Hospitals, primarily patients suffering with severe Anorexia Nervosa but also thoseContinue reading “Expert witness in Anorexia cases”
Category Archives: Uncategorized
Inaudible in-person proceedings: A practical barrier to transparency and open justice
By Tim Sugden, 21st February 2024 It’s not open justice if you can’t hear what is being said in the courtroom. My experience is that this is a recurrent problem in magistrates’ courts – and now I’ve found the same problem in the Court of Protection as well. My experiences in magistrates’ courts with CourtwatchContinue reading “Inaudible in-person proceedings: A practical barrier to transparency and open justice”
“Private” Hearings: An Audit
By Celia Kitzinger, 1 February 2024 The vast majority of hearings in the Court of Protection are open to the public – but almost every day there are also hearings listed as “PRIVATE”. My decision to take a closer look at “PRIVATE” hearings was made one Autumn day last year when I checked the listingsContinue reading ““Private” Hearings: An Audit”
Two law students’ first observation of a COP hearing
By Kei Yong and Isabella Treston, 31 January 2023 As two students studying the Bar Practice Course and Masters of Law in Liverpool, we were given the opportunity to attend remote hearings in the Court of Protection as part of our Masters. Neither of us had previously attended or known a lot of information regardingContinue reading “Two law students’ first observation of a COP hearing”
A disappointing failure of open justice: DJ OmoRegie says no
By George Palmer, 29th January 2024 I was very excited to learn that I could shadow Celia Kitzinger as an observer at a remote hearing (via cloud video platform) at 10 am on Friday 19th January 2024. I’m a third-year law student at the University of York intending to go into a career within ClinicalContinue reading “A disappointing failure of open justice: DJ OmoRegie says no”
“Unusual restrictions” for a 17-year-old
By Claire Martin, 25th January 2023 This hearing (COP 14169995 before DJ Glassbrook, sitting at Northampton County Court on 5th January 2024) caught my eye in the CourtServe list because it mentioned “unusual restrictions to which the protected party is subject”. Unfortunately, despite requesting them, I’ve not been sent the parties’ position statements, so I don’t haveContinue reading ““Unusual restrictions” for a 17-year-old”
Judge approves P’s conveyance (against his wishes) to a care home – and tells lawyers to “just stop!” routinely anonymising public bodies in draft Transparency Orders
by Daniel Clark, 22nd January 2024 It is not unusual for the Court of Protection to hear cases in which a “conveyance plan” needs to be approved. These are plans about how a protected party (P) will move from A to B and are an integral part of keeping P safe while also promoting her orContinue reading “Judge approves P’s conveyance (against his wishes) to a care home – and tells lawyers to “just stop!” routinely anonymising public bodies in draft Transparency Orders”
“An awful state”: Self-neglect and mental capacity
By Ian Brownhill, 17 January 2024 The description of a person being found in “an awful state” is one of the most common phrases than an adult social care lawyer will read. It is a description that has no legal meaning but is often a sanitised portrayal of someone who has been subject to significantContinue reading ““An awful state”: Self-neglect and mental capacity”
Our New Facebook Page!
As you know, a big part of our work is bringing together the various listings of hearings you can observe before the Court of Protection each day and making them accessible to members of the public who may want to observe the court in action. We rely heavily on social media to do this, andContinue reading “Our New Facebook Page!”
Covid and expert evidence: Vaccination is NOT in P’s best interests
By Celia Kitzinger, 14th January 2024 (updated 10th February 2024 after approved order was made) It’s been a while since I’ve observed a contested hearing about COVID vaccination in the Court of Protection[1], and I was assuming they’d all worked their way through the system by now. So, it was a surprise to log onContinue reading “Covid and expert evidence: Vaccination is NOT in P’s best interests”
Promoting Open Justice in the Court of Protection 