by Daniel Clark, 25th April 2025 On Wednesday 16th April 2025, the UK Supreme Court handed down judgment in two cases. One of them, For Women Scotland Ltd v The Scottish Ministers, has received a huge amount of attention in the press and in social media. The other has not. It is nevertheless a veryContinue reading “Reflections on the Supreme Court’s judgment in Abbasi on the duration of reporting restrictions”
Tag Archives: Human Rights
Draconian reporting restrictions (now lifted) in a contempt of court case: Severing continuity between judgments
By Amanda Hill and Claire Martin (with acknowledgment of significant input and support from Celia Kitzinger) Update 26 May 2025: The application to vary the reporting restrictions was successful and a judgment, [2025] EWCOP 16 (T3), was published on the National Archives Friday 23 May 2025. We will blog about the hearing to vary theContinue reading “Draconian reporting restrictions (now lifted) in a contempt of court case: Severing continuity between judgments”
Two years on, P is still missing: Judge refuses application to conclude proceedings, holds proceedings partly in private, and issues injunction with penal notice against mother
By Amanda Hill, with contribution from Tim Sugden and Celia Kitzinger, 26th March 2025 The protected party in this case, “P”, is a woman in her early twenties, with diagnoses of autism, ADHD, behavioural difficulties and limited communication skills. Her mother took her to Jamaica in February 2023 “seemingly to evade the involvement of social careContinue reading “Two years on, P is still missing: Judge refuses application to conclude proceedings, holds proceedings partly in private, and issues injunction with penal notice against mother”
“I’m making these orders not for my own amusement, but for P”: Judge admonishes professionals over “disappointing” failures
I observed the judge’s surprise and exasperation at the lack of progress in HMB’s case as performing a function of delegitimising and ‘calling out’ the situation…. Hearing such disapproval from someone exercising the authority of the court (in open court) felt like a powerful counter to such tacit social legitimisation that I wish more of society could (or would) hear.
Response to the Transparency and Open Justice Board proposed “key objectives”
By Celia Kitzinger, 3rd March 2025 The Transparency and Open Justice Board recently sought views on the Board’s proposed key objectives. The Board was created in April 2024 by the Lady Chief Justice, who said that it would “…set objectives for all Courts and Tribunals, focussing on timely and effective access in terms of listing, documents and publicContinue reading “Response to the Transparency and Open Justice Board proposed “key objectives””
A young man failed by NHS South West London ICB and the London Borough of Wandsworth
Working in the health service, I often hear families’ concerns or reasonable complaints framed as them being ‘anxious’ about their loved one’s care. I think it can be a manoeuvre to delegitimise their (often perfectly reasonable) concerns and belittle their status as a full participant. Conversely, I don’t hear the word ‘anxious’ being used about powerful professionals when they speak up or raise concerns.
P has capacity to decide to leave hospital – but there’s nowhere for him to go: Untangling capacity, “being on a DOLS”, and the care plan
By Amanda Hill, 24th February 2025 P, the protected party in this case, is a young man in his twenties, with an acquired brain injury and a spinal injury that has caused paraplegia. He’s been in hospital since October 2024 but has been medically fit for discharge for some months. There’s an earlier blog post here: Detention in hospital, capacity and treatment:Continue reading “P has capacity to decide to leave hospital – but there’s nowhere for him to go: Untangling capacity, “being on a DOLS”, and the care plan”
Anorexic teenager in 10-day induced coma for re-feeding: What next?
Doctors gave her a general anaesthetic, ventilated and sedated her, and fitted her with an NG tube, believing this to be in her best interests. She did not consent to any of this – there was a view that she lacked capacity, but no formal capacity assessment was mentioned. And it’s not clear (said the Official Solicitor) “how aware [she] was of the proposed treatment plan before it was put into effect”.
A mother now free to tell her Court of Protection story
By Amanda Hill, with Heather Walton and Celia Kitzinger, 10th December 2024 Something significant happened in the Court of Protection on Wednesday 30th October 2024. Not within the grandeur of the Royal Courts of Justice with a blaze of media attention, but in a regional court: Bournemouth and Poole. The case (COP14106873) was listed the evening beforeContinue reading “A mother now free to tell her Court of Protection story”
Application to appeal against judgment authorising withdrawal of life-sustaining treatment: Re XY
By Jenny Kitzinger, 4th December 2024 The Court of Appeal hearing I observed on the 26th November 2024 concerned an application for permission to appeal a Court of Protection judgment. I’d watched the original Court of Protection hearing (COP 20002405) in early November and blogged about it (“Withdrawing life-sustaining treatment: Faith and Science”). The judgment, handed down on 11th November –Continue reading “Application to appeal against judgment authorising withdrawal of life-sustaining treatment: Re XY”
Promoting Open Justice in the Court of Protection 