By Celia Kitzinger, Gill Loomes-Quinn, Claire Martin and Kirsty Stuart, 15th June 2022 It’s two years ago today since two of us (Celia and Gill) launched the Open Justice Court of Protection Project, at the beginning of the pandemic. It was born of our passionate belief that “publicity is the very soul of justice” atContinue reading “Happy Second Birthday to the Open Justice Court of Protection Project”
Tag Archives: Mental Capacity
Making Disabled Lives Visible – Reflections Two Years On
By Gill Loomes-Quinn, 13th June 2022 One of the many challenging aspects of being disabled in our society is the isolation that comes from those around you being ignorant of, and failing to comprehend, the ways in which living with impairment(s) in a disabling society impact the life of a disabled person. My own experiencesContinue reading “Making Disabled Lives Visible – Reflections Two Years On”
A short hearing and a failure to agree
Learning from the experiences of Litigants in Person and the difficulties they have navigating the legal system, in personal and emotive circumstances, is vital to supporting future Litigants in Person, particularly in light of reduced legal aid funding.
Fairness in court for a Litigant in Person
There’s an application for an injunction against P’s wife ordering her to move out of his house in two weeks’ time. This is because P would like to move back home (he’s currently in residential care) but she is alleged to have abused him.
Conditions on contact between mother and son: Missing P’s voice
By Celia Kitzinger, 9th June 2022 This was an urgent hearing to consider the issue of contact between Mrs M and her son. Until the end of last year, Mrs M, who is in her eighties and has dementia, lived with her son at his home. Her son was her main carer. She’s now livingContinue reading “Conditions on contact between mother and son: Missing P’s voice”
Bringing a very long saga to an end: A final hearing, transparency issues, and delays with a charging decision
By Paige Taylor, 8th June 2022 On 23rd May 2022 I watched a remote hearing (COP 13585739) before Mrs Justice Lieven. I am currently a Bar course student at the Inns of Court College of Advocacy, and I wanted to observe a Court of Protection hearing because I have an interest in mental capacity and disability law, particularlyContinue reading “Bringing a very long saga to an end: A final hearing, transparency issues, and delays with a charging decision”
“What good is it making someone safer if it merely makes them miserable?” A contested hearing and delayed trial of living at home
By Celia Kitzinger, 3 June 2022 The quotation in the title of this blog is (as many readers will recognise) from a judgment by Munby J. In full, the relevant passage reads as follows: A great judge once said, “all life is an experiment,” adding that “every year if not every day we have to wager ourContinue reading ““What good is it making someone safer if it merely makes them miserable?” A contested hearing and delayed trial of living at home”
Treatment delay: “My son has got disabilities but that doesn’t mean he’s a nobody”
Research has painted a troubling picture of the quality of healthcare people with a learning disability have received (or not received) over the course of the pandemic, exacerbating already high levels of health inequalities
When family members apply to become parties: A hidden and “private” (but not sinister and secret) hearing
Many people who contact the Open Justice Court of Protection Project believe that the court is deliberately obstructive of open justice. I understand why it can feel like that.
It really isn’t the case that the lists are deliberately designed to discourage us from observing hearings. It’s just that – very often – they have that effect. Having attended this hidden and “private” hearing, I can’t detect any reason why anyone would have sought to exclude me: there was nothing ‘secret’ or ‘sinister’ about it at all.
A section 21A hearing: Impressions from a veteran observer and the daughter of (a different) P in a s.21A case
By Celia Kitzinger and Anna (Daughter of P), 9th May 2022 Anna (not her real name) contacted the Open Justice Court of Protection Project towards the end of April 2022, saying that she’d been asked to attend a s. 21A directions hearing about her mother (in a care home, with Alzheimer’s) and was finding the Court ofContinue reading “A section 21A hearing: Impressions from a veteran observer and the daughter of (a different) P in a s.21A case”
Promoting Open Justice in the Court of Protection 