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”
Tag Archives: Not Secret Court
“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”
Capacity to make a Lasting Power of Attorney
By Clare Fuller, 3rd May 2022 I wanted to observe this hearing because it was listed as being concerned with the validity of a Lasting Power of Attorney. Here’s how it appeared in the Court of Protection list for First Avenue House in London: Midday20thApril 2022 Deputy District Judge Kaufman 13628180 CC -v- The Public GuardianContinue reading “Capacity to make a Lasting Power of Attorney”
The value of observing a case management hearing in the Court of Protection
By Helen Moizer, 7th April 2022 The value of observing a case management hearing in the Court of Protection. When I observed a Court of Protection hearing for the first time, I did not know what I was entering into or what to expect. Despite it being a video hearing link, I still felt apprehensiveContinue reading “The value of observing a case management hearing in the Court of Protection”
Two years on: A postscript to “Remote justice”
What families mean by “gravitas” (dignity, seriousness, solemnity) does not in fact reside in court architecture, coats of arms, wigs and robes, or rituals of address and behaviour. In my experience, these external manifestations of “justice” can sometimes seem rather ridiculous, and the “performance” element of the courtroom can alienate lay people and distract everyone from the serious business at hand. Rather, the “gravitas” families appreciate is a quality of attention, a focus, a willingness to engage, in depth, with the medico-legal and ethical issues before the court.
Advocacy in the William Verden hearing: Observations from a trainee barrister
Court of Protection hearings provide very valuable opportunities to observe the practice and effect of oral and written advocacy from skilled QCs and other barristers. Every trainee barrister would come away stronger after observing a Court of Protection hearing…. This was a profoundly useful hearing to observe as a Bar student.
Best interests and kidney transplantation: Closing submissions in the William Verden case
By Bonnie Venter, 7th March 2022 UPDATE: The judgment in this case is now published: Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust v WV [2022] EWCOP 9 (08 March 2022). Latest news: “Autistic kidney-row teen’s transplant ‘a success’“ This post is about the final day of the hearing concerning whether it is in William Verden’s best interestsContinue reading “Best interests and kidney transplantation: Closing submissions in the William Verden case”
Promoting Open Justice in the Court of Protection 