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”
Tag Archives: Legal Practice
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”
A committal hearing to send P’s mother to prison – and the challenges of an in-person hearing
By Claire Martin, 8 February 2023 Editorial update: After the decision in this case (a suspended custodial sentence of 28 days), Mrs Lioubov Macpherson made an unsuccessful appeal to the Court of Appeal. The Court of Appeal judgment is here. Lioubov Macpherson v Sunderland City Council {2023] EWCA Civ 574 (4 May 2023). The hearingContinue reading “A committal hearing to send P’s mother to prison – and the challenges of an in-person hearing”
Covert medication of persons lacking capacity: What guidance is there?
By Aswini Weereratne, 6th February 2023 Covert medication is the troubling practice of medicating a person without their knowledge because they have refused treatment considered medically necessary. This is often done by disguising medication in food or a drink. A few cases before the Court of Protection have placed this practice into the spotlight and raise theContinue reading “Covert medication of persons lacking capacity: What guidance is there?”
‘Test case’ on Lasting Powers of Attorney – with troubling delay
By Celia Kitzinger, 31st January 2023 At some point in the future, there may be a time for all of us when we can’t make decisions for ourselves. It may come suddenly, as it did for my younger sister, Polly, who was catastrophically brain-injured in a car crash in 2009. Or we may lose capacity toContinue reading “‘Test case’ on Lasting Powers of Attorney – with troubling delay”
Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards: A course for families
By Amanda Hill (previously written as ‘Anna’, daughter of a P) Update: Following the court changing the Transparency Order for my mum’s case in March 2025, I can now reveal my identity I’m involved in a Court of Protection s 21A application concerning my mother and the origin of this case was a Deprivation ofContinue reading “Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards: A course for families”
Decision-making with clarity and compassion: Validity of LPAs and appointment of Deputy
The judge summarised the proceedings stating “I formally record the LPAs are invalid and should not be registered, and the application for deputyship for property and affairs is approved”. The LPAs were invalid was because Stephen lacked capacity at the time of signing the documents.
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.
Promoting Open Justice in the Court of Protection 