By Celia Kitzinger, 23rd April 2023 This was a distressing hearing to watch because as it unfolded it became increasing clear that the parents were at breaking point in trying to care for their disabled daughter. The Official Solicitor was clearly pushing for more support for the family from the local authority – who seem to haveContinue reading “A family at breaking point”
Tag Archives: Open Justice
Opaque justice in the Court of Protection: A dispute about the validity of Lasting Power of Attorney
By Daniel Clark, 21st April 2023 At 2pm on Friday 14th April 2023, I observed a directions hearing (COP 13795316) via MS Teams before Deputy District Judge Chahal sitting at First Avenue House in London. I simply couldn’t follow it. Wittgenstein’s notion of language-games proposes that language only has meaning when applied in its context. In other words, it is action thatContinue reading “Opaque justice in the Court of Protection: A dispute about the validity of Lasting Power of Attorney”
Unplanned disclosure and (still) no agreed ‘exit plan’: Re A (Covert medication: Closed Proceedings) [2022] EWCOP 44 continues
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.
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”
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”
Promoting Open Justice in the Court of Protection 