By Celia Kitzinger, 15 August 2023 This is an unusual s.21A challenge to the authorisation of Mr P’s deprivation of liberty. The only issue for determination is whether or not Mr P is actually “deprived of his liberty”. If he is, one of the key safeguards of DoLS is that he will continue to be entitledContinue reading “Is he deprived of his liberty? (Plus a request to vary the reporting restrictions – again)”
Tag Archives: Legal Practice
Adjournment and interim judgment – Hayden J’s fact-finding hearing
By Celia Kitzinger, 4 August 2023 Editorial note: For background information about this case click on the titles of these two blog posts: (1) : “Fact-finding hearing: Little short of outright war” (which has links to previous judgments) and (2) “A judicial embargo and our decision to postpone“. Note that we will now delay publication of our multi-authored blogs aboutContinue reading “Adjournment and interim judgment – Hayden J’s fact-finding hearing”
The logic, law and language of Lasting Power of Attorney: A case before Hayden J
By Clare Fuller, 12 July 2023 Advance Care Planning is something I care passionately about. As a nurse specialising in Palliative and End of Life Care I have seen first-hand and too often what can happen if appropriate plans are not in place. Advance Care Planning means thinking ahead, not waiting for a crisis andContinue reading “The logic, law and language of Lasting Power of Attorney: A case before Hayden J”
Just another failure of open justice: DJ Bland in Lancaster County Court
By Celia Kitzinger, 11 July 2023 I’m so weary of this sort of thing. I can’t summon up the energy, three years on, for outrage about the routine, mundane, banal failure of the Court of Protection, despite its best intentions, to implement transparency for its hearings. In theory, yes, the doors of the courtroom areContinue reading “Just another failure of open justice: DJ Bland in Lancaster County Court”
‘What God has put together, let no man put asunder’: A s.21A challenge and the limits of Power of Attorney
By Celia Kitzinger, 3rd July 2023 The words “What God has put together, let no man put asunder” are from the Bible (Matthew 19:6). It means that marriage is a holy thing and humans should not break a marriage apart. The deeply religious man who uttered these words in court was powerfully expressing his dismayContinue reading “‘What God has put together, let no man put asunder’: A s.21A challenge and the limits of Power of Attorney”
Struggling with transparency and a family under stress
By Celia Kitzinger, 9 June 2023 I’ve divided this blog into two parts. If you can’t bear to hear me complaining (again) about the lack of transparency in the Court of Protection, please skip directly to Part 2, which reports on the substance of the hearing. I arrived late to the hearing (see Part 1) andContinue reading “Struggling with transparency and a family under stress”
The most complex of best interests: Organ donation, learning disability, and the options on the table
Ruby Reed-Berendt and Bonnie Venter, 12 May 2023 To our knowledge, the Court of Protection has only once before grappled with the issue of capacity and organ donation in the context of learning disability: when it considered the case of William Verden last year. You can read the judgment in that earlier judgment here: Manchester UniversityContinue reading “The most complex of best interests: Organ donation, learning disability, and the options on the table”
Disadvantaged litigants in person and a long search for a placement
By Celia Kitzinger, 14th April 2023 This very short hearing (just half an hour) interested me for two reasons. First, it tells yet another story indicative of the horrendous pressures on social care in England, with suitable placements hard to come by. Second, it raised for me some worries about the way the judge treated the parents,Continue reading “Disadvantaged litigants in person and a long search for a placement”
Validity of Lasting Power of Attorney: Observing my first Court of Protection hearing
There wasn’t an opening summary of the case, but the listing stated that the issue before the court was: “Directions required for OPG’s applications to revoke LPAs for P&A and H&W and appoint a Panel Deputy to manage the property and affairs of [P]”. (To unpack this: OPG = Office of Public Guardian; LPA = Lasting Power of Attorney; P&A = Property and Affairs; H&W = Health and Welfare.)
New Guidance on Closed Hearings from the Vice President of the Court of Protection
By Celia Kitzinger, 8th February 2023 My first experience of a case involving closed hearings was as an observer of Re A (Covert medication: Closed Proceedings) [2022] EWCOP 44. It shook my faith in the justice system. The protected party (A) was in residential care, against her own wishes and those of her mother. While A’sContinue reading “New Guidance on Closed Hearings from the Vice President of the Court of Protection”
Promoting Open Justice in the Court of Protection 