By Celia Kitzinger, 12th July 2021[1] Update: This judgment has now been published BU, Re [2021] EWCOP 54 (24 September 2021) This case before Mrs Justice Roberts, (COP 13503831 heard on 6th – 8th July 2021) concerns coercive control and a planned predatory marriage (or civil partnership). Evidence from an expert psychologist appointed by the court, ProfessorContinue reading “Predatory marriage and coercive control: A hearing before Roberts J”
Tag Archives: Best Interests
On care, coercion and childbirth in the Court of Protection
By Ruth Fletcher, 5th July 2021 The decision in ‘An Expectant Mother’ is unsettling on many levels, not least because it takes a harsh legal approach when a care-full one is needed. Instead of paying even more attention to the experience of the agoraphobic pregnant woman at the heart of this case, somehow the judgment has endedContinue reading “On care, coercion and childbirth in the Court of Protection”
Delays in finding an Acquired Brain Injury Placement: “A very significant degree of muddle”
By Gaby Parker, 29th June 2021 On 23rd June 2021 I observed a hearing (via MS Teams) before Mr Justice Hayden in the Court of Protection: COP 1354439T Re. PH. The case was about finding a suitable placement for P who remains in hospital although he is fit for discharge and has been for a long time. TheContinue reading “Delays in finding an Acquired Brain Injury Placement: “A very significant degree of muddle””
“You can’t ask the High Court to turn a blind eye to illegal detention”
“You have to do better than that. You can’t ask the High Court to turn a blind eye to illegal detention. If this was an immigration case, I would be letting him out now. You can’t unlawfully detain people in the UK. You’ve got four days to sort this out. If the situation is that he should just go home – then just do it. I’m not going to order you to do it because I haven’t got the evidence.” (Mrs Justice Lieven)
Clinically-assisted nutrition and hydration: Decisions that cannot be ignored or delayed
By Jenny Kitzinger, 23rd June 2021 Hearings in the Court of Protection often bring crucial issues into sharp relief in a vivid, poignant and intellectually rigorous way. This was certainly so in the hearing I observed last week: Case No. 1375980T on 10 June 2021. It concerned GU, a 70-year-old man who sustained a severe anoxic brain injury in AprilContinue reading “Clinically-assisted nutrition and hydration: Decisions that cannot be ignored or delayed”
Hillingdon 10 Years on: Another Deprivation of Liberty
EW’s wish to end her days in Inverness may not weigh heavily in the best interests decision that will need to be made if the court decides that she lacks capacity to make her own decision about where to live. I worry that the groundwork for that is already being prepared. There was a weariness whenever Scotland was mentioned.
An urgent court-authorised Caesarean: Seeing behind a published judgment
I can see why planned care for someone in a highly distressed and deteriorating state is attractive on many fronts. However, like the Court, I really struggle with the sense that there seems to have been no attempt to engage openly and honestly with Miss K, at a time when she may have been better placed to consider her wishes and feelings in an inevitably harrowing situation.
Chaos in court and incompetent decision-making: Visual monitoring Part 2
By Claire Martin, 17th June 2021 This hearing, on 6th and 7th May 2021 before HHJ Howells at Wrexham County and Family Court (COP 13575520 Re: B) was the second hearing I’ve observed concerning “David” – a 39-year-old man with a severe learning disability, poorly controlled epilepsy and congenital cerebral palsy with right-sided hemiplegia. At the previous hearing, onContinue reading “Chaos in court and incompetent decision-making: Visual monitoring Part 2”
Best interests decisions when P’s views and wishes cannot be determined
The issue at this hearing was (still) whether NW should remain in Dover House, which is what the CCG (who fund her care) argued, supported by the local authority, or whether she should return home, which is what her mother wants.
“An onlooker at someone else’s social event”: A mother’s experience of the court
I don’t understand what was decided at the hearing. I did not get anything like a bit of paper saying “This is what was decided at your court hearing”. I don’t understand why there is another hearing planned for next year. Throughout these months between now and the next hearing my belief is that Lillian is not being given the care that she needs and is not being protected. I just want my daughter to come home.
Promoting Open Justice in the Court of Protection 