This blog contains brief summaries of the position of each party and intervener. In putting together this blog, I’ve tried to capture the essence of each position but not explain every step in the formulation of that position.
Tag Archives: Mental Capacity
Place Your Bets: The Supreme Court vs The Spirit of Cheshire West
On Monday 20th to Wednesday 22nd October, the UK Supreme Court is gearing up to hear a case that could redraw the map of human rights protections for people deprived of their liberty, and I, for one, am terrified.
Reform, not rollback: Reflections from a social worker and former DOLS lead on the upcoming Supreme Court case about deprivation of liberty
This question strikes at the heart of the “subjective element” of deprivation of liberty. And it’s why charities like Mind, Mencap, and the National Autistic Society are sounding the alarm. As someone who has worked as a DoLS lead, Best Interests Assessor, and social worker, and now as a Practice Development Consultant at SCIE, I share those concerns.
A committal, a closed hearing, and forced removal of P
It was fascinating to to be able to ‘eavesdrop’ on the practical and legal dilemmas created by this situation as it unfolded in real time. … to appreciate how decisions emerge in response to changing events on the ground, and how competing arguments are advanced (often fervently) by people committed to P’s best interests but with different perspectives on how P’s best interests should be served
Serving a prison sentence for contempt of court: Luba Macpherson
The Court of Appeal was (again) displaying to others who might be tempted to flout court orders that it would not hesitate to exact punishment.
An urgent caesarean application in a disturbing case
She went to Somalia to be with her grandmother, and she returned to the UK in July 2025. When she arrived at hospital the following month, having had a fall, clinicians realised she was eight months pregnant.
Attorneys disagree about a house purchase for their mother: Case management for a final hearing
Court of Protection judges are very experienced in dealing with fraught situations and family dispute. The stakes are high when family members disagree about the care or finances of a relative who lacks capacity to make their own decisions, and there are likely to be different perspectives on who is being most loving, or reasonable or responsible, who started what, or who is to blame for the current situation.
Cheshire West Revisited
There are probably constitutional and legal questions about this route to reviewing an earlier Supreme Court decision, but that’s not what interests me today. want to write about valid consent, because it’s a topic I’ve been thinking and writing about a lot since Cheshire West
Reconsidering Cheshire West in the Supreme Court: Is a gilded cage still a cage?
Even when P says they’re happy with their residence, and that they do not want to leave, and welcome the fact that the doors are kept locked, this still amounts to a deprivation of liberty. It is this element of deprivation of liberty that the Supreme Court will be considering in October 2025. The key question is whether a person can, in effect, “consent” to living arrangements that would otherwise constitute a “deprivation of liberty” through the expression of their wishes and feelings, irrespective of whether or not they have the mental capacity to consent to those arrangements.
Authenticity of a “Living Will”
None of us would want our loved ones to be placed (like AB’s fiancee) in the position of having to defend the authenticity of our written documents after we’ve lost capacity. We want to produce documents that are sufficiently robust to avoid this kind of challenge
Promoting Open Justice in the Court of Protection 