With many thanks to all those who have been in touch, from many different settings and backgrounds, to offer support and case studies for the ‘vulnerable adults’ project that I am seeking to persuade the Law Commission to take up, a few more observations and a last call for evidence. The original call is here, […]
Monthly archives for March, 2017
Deaths under DoLS changes – fur...
A Home Office Circular has now been published to accompany the Policing and Crime Act 2017 changes (including those relating to death under DoLS) coming into force on Monday 3 April. The circular, available here, addresses the DoLS changes at pages 11 and onwards, and includes these particularly important passages: “60. Coroners will continue to […]
New Chief Coroner’s Guidance on...
To accompany the coming into force on 3 April of the change to the definition of “state detention” introduced by the Policing and Crime Act 2017, the new Chief Coroner has issued new guidance – 16A – to accompany (and then supersede) the existing guidance available here. The guidance, which also addresses the Court of […]
A clash of rights (models)? The ECtHR...
In A-MV v Finland, (Application no. 53251/13, decision of 23 March 2017), the European Court of Human Rights considered carefully but rejected a central tenet of the interpretation of Article 12 of the Convention of the Rights of Persons with Disabilities advanced by the Committee on that Convention, namely that the will and preferences of […]
Best interests, available options, an...
A cross-post to the post on the Court of Protection Handbook by Sophy Miles, Neil Allen and I on the decision handed down this morning by the Supreme Court in N v ACCG.
Law Society Mental Health and Disabil...
There are four vacancies, two immediate, and two for a September start, on the Law Society’s Mental Health and Disability Committee. I sit on this and can say without hesitation that it is one of the most fulfilling of the (rather too many!) commitments that I have – a very talented and dedicated group of […]
‘Vulnerable adults’ ̵...
Proving less is not always more, some helpful feedback received via the great echo chamber of Twitter suggests that I might want to emphasise two key points made in very short form in my proposal circulated yesterday. The first is that the term ‘vulnerable adults’ was used because that is the term that the High […]
Vulnerable Adults Bill – help w...
The problem There is a significant cohort of individuals who (1) do not lack capacity for purposes of the Mental Capacity Act 2005 (‘MCA 2005’); (2) are in some way vulnerable to coercion or duress on the part of third parties; and (3) outside the scope of domestic violence legislation. Most, but not all, of […]
ReSPECT – a new approach to advance c...
It is a truth (almost) universally acknowledged that DNACPR/DNR notices are not working. Cases such as Tracey and Winspear show that the conversations that need to take place before decisions are taken to place such notices in medical records are not happening. Cases such as that of Andrew Waters show that determinations as to when […]
Draft Mental Capacity (Amendment) Bi...
The wait is now over! The Law Commission’s Mental Capacity and Deprivation of Liberty report and draft Bill has now been published. Full coverage will appear in our April Mental Capacity Law Report, and a podcast of my breakfast briefing to be held tomorrow (14 March) should be available shortly thereafter. In the interim, […]
