closed material hearing – Promoting Open Justice in the Court of Protection

Why can’t a 91-year old return home to her son?

By Celia Kitzinger and Kim Dodd, 30th September 2024 Now with updating PostScript, 13th December 2024 We both watched this hearing (COP 20000918) on 30 September 2024 before HHJ Robertshaw in Bristol concerning a 91-year-old lady (P) who has been deprived of her liberty in hospital for several months, as a “social admission” (i.e. there’sContinue reading “Why can’t a 91-year old return home to her son? “

Closed Material Proceedings: A ‘forced marriage’ hearing before Theis J

By Celia Kitzinger, 23 August 2023 The hearing (COP 13907545 on 27 July 2023) concerns a young woman in her twenties (M) who has a mild learning disability and can also experience anxiety, depression and impulsivity. She needs 24-hour support to provide assistance with personal care, nutrition, medication and to allow her to access the community safely. Continue reading “Closed Material Proceedings: A ‘forced marriage’ hearing before Theis J”

A ‘closed materials’ hearing on forced marriage

By Celia Kitzinger, 1st March 2023 (revised 3rd March 2023) This is the first time I’ve watched a hearing before Mrs Justice Theis since she became Vice President of the Court of Protection on 13th February 2023. One of the last things the previous Vice President, Mr Justice Hayden, did before he stood down earlier thisContinue reading “A ‘closed materials’ hearing on forced marriage”

Closed Hearings: Submission to the Rules Committee

It would be helpful for the Guidance to consider ways in which the taint of deception could be removed, as far as possible, from cases involving closed hearings and to recognise and seek to minimise the moral injury they can cause.

Reflections on open justice and transparency in the light of Re A (Covert Medication: Closed Proceedings) [2022] EWCOP 44

What happened in this case strikes at the very heart of the work of the Open Justice Court of Protection Project. It’s very unfortunate that the manner in which this case became public knowledge was via a blog post based on a misapprehension of the facts – necessitating a Statement correcting those facts.