Mental Health Tribunal Handbook: Sarah Johnston, Sophy Miles and Dr Claire Royston (Legal Action Group, 2015: £48) This new work from LAG aims to enable practitioners successfully to represent clients in the Mental Health Tribunal (and above to the Upper Tribunal). It follows the tried and tested LAG formula of bringing together a range of […]
Monthly archives for July, 2015
News from New Zealand – testame...
It is appropriate to highlight a Kiwi case in what is likely to be one of my last posts before I disappear to New Zealand for a month – in part to co-teach a short course on mental capacity law at Auckland University with the great Kris Gledhill (normal burblings will be resumed in late […]
Conditional discharge and DOLS –...
In Secretary of State for Justice v KC and C Partnership NHS Foundation Trust [2015] UKUT 0376 (AAC), Charles J has clarified that it is entirely possible for a person to be given a conditional discharge from detention under the MHA 1983 if the conditions of that discharge amount to an objective deprivation of […]
Neglect upon neglect – the repo...
For a deeply depressing read on a (in London wet) Tuesday evening, you could do worse than read the report just published into the series of events known as ‘Operation Jasmine,’ – a lengthy and complex investigation by Gwent Police concerning 63 deaths which were a cause for concern in private care homes and nursing […]
Celtic ducks: guidance from Scotland ...
The Scottish Mental Welfare Commission has today (10 July) published very interesting ‘Advice Notes’ on deprivation of liberty [full disclosure, written by one of the Scottish contributors to the Newsletter, Jill Stavert]. The guidance is of most immediate relevance to those in Scotland (especially the later sections dealing with the specifically Scottish legislative provisions and […]
Law Commission’s Deprivation of...
The wait is finally over, and the Law Commission’s consultation is now open. We will have an article by Tim Spencer-Lane (the lead lawyer at the Commission on this project) in our Mental Capacity Law Newsletter out tomorrow, 8 July, but in the interim, you can find an outline of the consultation and the vitally […]
Professional and ethical practice iss...
With thanks to Robert Sherman for bringing this to my attention, there is a very interesting conference being held on 17 July at the University of East London on professional and ethical practice issues for psychologists, psychotherapists and counsellors. I’m particularly bringing this to people’s attention because of the emphasis on the legal framework within […]
Deprivation of liberty in the hospita...
The discussion paper that I wrote some time ago on this thorny topic with my colleague Catherine Dobson has now been updated, and can be found here.
Law Society Practice Note: Meeting th...
The Law Society has today published guidance for solicitors to help them meet the needs of vulnerable clients. This includes clients with a range of physical and mental health problems including learning disabilities. The guidance, or Practice Note, has been issued in response to calls for support from law firms themselves and other significant partners, […]
News from Belfast – the NI Mental Cap...
I gave evidence with Caroline Bielanska, Phil Fennell, Julian Hughes, Wayne Martin and George Szmukler to the Ad Hoc Committee of the Northern Ireland Assembly considering the Mental Capacity Bill introduced there on 8 June. I was very honoured to have been invited, and very excited to have the chance to give my ten cents […]
