The court is now in the unenviable position of trying to help the MDT extricate itself from the entirely untenable situation it’s in following the directions of HHJ Moir. I am left wondering how everyone thought this would be brought to a satisfactory conclusion. What ‘exit plan’ was envisaged at the point the judge set the wheels in motion for covert medication? Nobody can have imagined that A could be detained and covertly medicated for the next 30 years – but nobody seems to have planned for any alternative.
Tag Archives: Not Secret Court
After the kidney transplant: The view from “Team William”
If I were presented with this situation again, I would most definitely do it all again in a heartbeat. William’s situation demonstrated to me that although there are risks to being placed in intensive care, it was absolutely the right decision for William.
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”
Conflating capacity and best interests? Cross-examining a neuropsychiatrist
By Claire Martin, 25th March 2023 Mr A is the applicant in this case. He is currently deprived of his liberty in a care home setting. He has made a s.21A application challenging his deprivation of liberty on the grounds that he has capacity to make the relevant decisions about his care, residence and finances, andContinue reading “Conflating capacity and best interests? Cross-examining a neuropsychiatrist”
Emergency placement order in a closed hearing
By Celia Kitzinger, 20th March 2023 At a closed hearing by telephone, out-of-hours on Saturday 25th February 2023, Mr Justice Hayden granted an order that it was in P’s best interests to be removed from the home where she lives with her sister (Q) and taken to an emergency placement. Mr Justice Hayden also approved anContinue reading “Emergency placement order in a closed hearing”
‘Deprived of her liberty’: My experience of the court procedure for my mum
I am sharing these thoughts in the hope that it might help other families in similar situations – and I’m writing also for the legal professionals involved in what is, for them, probably routine work, to help them understand more about what it feels like for a family member.
Where shall P live?
This is a woman who led walking groups for much of her adult life, loved the outdoors, loves gardening and has found great- what in modern parlance we’d call ‘well-being’ in those things, but really they are things she enjoys doing and has found in them great joy and solace.
Treatment escalation for a teenager in ICU
By Rhiannon Snaith, 16th March 2023 Editorial note 3: (added 30 April 2024) There is a Court of Appeal hearing on 1st and 2nd May 2024 – the parents (supported by Christian Concern) are challenging Mrs Justice Roberts’ finding that ST lacked capacity to litigate the case, and lacked capacity to make her own medicalContinue reading “Treatment escalation for a teenager in ICU”
“This is a quagmire and it needs to be urgently done”: LPA objections, disputed capacity and an imperative need for a panel deputy
By Eleanor Tallon, 12th March 2023 Very little was revealed about the woman at the centre of this case – other than she has been living in a care home since the end of 2021, whilst her son remained living in her home. In June 2021, she had made a Power of Attorney for Property and AffairsContinue reading ““This is a quagmire and it needs to be urgently done”: LPA objections, disputed capacity and an imperative need for a panel deputy”
Discharge from hospital: Light at the end of a very long tunnel
Daniel Clark, 10th March 2023 – with new update by Celia Kitzinger about the emergency hearing on 16th March 2023 (added at end of blog post) This hearing (COP 14036761, before Mrs Justice Theis) was scheduled to begin at 10:30am on Monday 6th March, 2023. However, the Judge was engaged with an urgent matter and soContinue reading “Discharge from hospital: Light at the end of a very long tunnel”
Promoting Open Justice in the Court of Protection 