Non-compliance from the public body was dealt with by judicial expressions of incomprehension (“I’m struggling to understand…”) about the Local Authority’s failure to act and about their failure to apologise for not doing so. This led to an acknowledgement of (some) fault by Barnet…
Category Archives: Uncategorized
Contact Restrictions between P and their Family in the Court of Protection: How Decisions Are Made
Contact is a recurring issue in Court of Protection proceedings. I have been working in this area for eight years and my rough estimate would be that a dispute around contact (justified or otherwise) has arisen in around 30-40% of the cases I work on.
The well-recognised wish to go home
For many people with dementia, the emotional connection with home remains long after the dwindling of the memory that the physical space is no longer accessible. It can be distressing when care staff do not understand or are perceived of obstructing attempts to return to that place. But none of this changes the desire to be home, and none of this changes the possibility that the care home can become a place that one might see as home.
Hoarding: P is removed from his home by court order with no suitable alternative accommodation provided
At the time of the hearing, P is living in a local hotel at his own expense. The LA has been unable to find suitable accommodation for him locally and after considering the alternative (a flat more than an hour away from his home) the judge ruled he should stay where he is.
If you were a Supreme Court judge, how would you decide Cheshire West Revisited?
Observers form opinions about what they see, opinions informed by their own unique expertise and knowledge base (professional and personal).
The Mostyn Objection
The writer and political salonnière Jeanne Marie “Manon” Roland was guillotined in Paris on 8th November 1793. Legend has it that her last words on the scaffold were, “O Liberté, que de crimes on commet en ton nom!”—“Oh Liberty, what crimes are committed in your name!”
Feeding under sedation for anorexia nervosa: The outcome for LV [2025] EWCOP 9
By Sydney White, 18th November 2025 The protected party at the centre of this case, LV, is a 20-year-old woman diagnosed with anorexia nervosa, autism spectrum disorder, severe depression, and anxiety. At the time of the first Court of Protection hearing, in early 2025, she was an inpatient on a ward in a specialist eatingContinue reading “Feeding under sedation for anorexia nervosa: The outcome for LV [2025] EWCOP 9”
Hoarding and best interests challenges for the Court of Protection
By Claire Martin, 16th November 2025 The protected party at the centre of this case (P) is a man who has significant hoarding difficulties. The Local Authority wants him to leave his home – either by agreement or by force – to enable them to clear the property and assess the amount of work thatContinue reading “Hoarding and best interests challenges for the Court of Protection”
Abstract argument: The Attorney General for Northern Ireland’s Reference to the Supreme Court
Many of the hypothetical arguments and postulated facts raised at the hearing concerned not the issue of consent on which the Attorney General sought guidance, but the wider issue of whether Cheshire West was correctly decided viz. the “acid test”. That question was raised late in the day by the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care who does not have standing to refer cases directly to the Supreme Court himself…
When open justice undermines public confidence: Scrutinising the Supreme Court
Justice is not a cloistered virtue; she must be allowed to suffer the scrutiny and respectful, even though outspoken, comments of ordinary men
Promoting Open Justice in the Court of Protection 