Editor’s note: This is a report of a later hearing in the same case as the one covered in a previous blog here. By Lucy Williams, 29 October 2020 I am studying a module on Health Care Law at the University of York. We explore how decision-making capacity is determined on the basis of the Mental Capacity ActContinue reading “From black letter law to real-life decision making”
Tag Archives: Court of Protection
A COVID-Secure Attended Hearing
By Adam Tanner, 28th October 2020 Over the past seven years I have worked within the justice system and have been an observer as a law student and PhD researcher in several hundred in-person court hearings. Since the lockdown restrictions commencing in March 2020, there has been a new feel to the justice system inContinue reading “A COVID-Secure Attended Hearing”
Where P should live
“One of the most relevant and pleasing aspects of the hearings has been the evident attention paid to the involvement of P in proceedings. Although P did not attend any of these hearings, what did come across and was clearly conveyed was a real sense of P as an individual and what their views, wishes and feelings were/are in relation to the life-matters affecting them.”
Ethical issues in restraining patients for dialysis
“…Two aspects of Paul’s treatment particularly interest me. First, that the restraint required is rather extreme. Second, that the patient had expressed a clear desire to be restrained as he wants to be dialyzed…”
Influencing ‘best interests’ decisions: An eloquent incapacitious P
“Many of us may be deemed by the courts to lack capacity to make key decisions about our own lives at a point where we believe ourselves entitled to make decisions for ourselves – indeed the very loss of insight that can come with brain injury may render us completely unable to recognise our own limitations. Like Mr G, we may fight (and lose) an argument that we are capacitous.”
Costs and benefits of acting as expert witness in the Court of Protection
By a Serious Brain Injury Case Manager, 13 October 2020 This tweet gave me reason to pause and reflect because it came on the back of a request by a lawyer to commission me, as a professional working in acquired brain injury, as an expert witness for the Court of Protection. The vast majority ofContinue reading “Costs and benefits of acting as expert witness in the Court of Protection”
Applying to be a deputy in place of the court-appointed deputy
“…it was reassuring to witness a judge who acted with empathy for the family’s concerns whilst ensuring that P remained the primary focus. Judge Hilder skilfully found solutions to empower both P and her family throughout the process by suggesting ways to involve them as much as possible.”
A Litigant in Person returns to the virtual court – Navigating Approaches to Care when Family and Local Authority Disagree – Part 2, One Week On
“…I also recognise that I may hear things that I disagree with in the course of a hearing. When something unexpected is said, I noted that the Judge needs to quickly form a view on whether it is relevant to the hearing or not, and if not, let it go…”
Covert medication
“…Understandably, the decision to prescribe an antipsychotic to a person with dementia and administer it covertly should not be taken lightly. Counsel in this hearing noted that it represented a ‘significant interference’ with P’s human rights…”
Authorising restraint– an uneasy judicial decision
“…The person at the centre of the case (“F”) was described as an intelligent, articulate woman. She is 38 years old and has end-stage kidney failure. She had refused dialysis between 28 July and 11 August 2020 and was at a real risk of dying…”
Promoting Open Justice in the Court of Protection 