In Parr v Cheshire East Council & Anor [2026] EWCOP 1 (T3), and whilst expressly applying, rather than seeking to… Read more
Personal welfare deputies, principle and pragmatism
Category: Comments
January 2026 capacity mini-update
We do not publish a January Mental Capacity Report, but there have been a number of relevant developments meriting brief… Read more
The UK National Preventive Mechanism 2024-25 Annual Report
The UK National Preventive Mechanism is made up of 21 organisations, which independently monitor different settings of detention across the… Read more
Capacity to marry – the English perspective (and is it the last word?)
Hot on the heels of the first Irish case to consider capacity to marry under their new regime, by pure… Read more
Mental health conditions, cancer investigation and capacity – the challenges of achieving parity
Powys Teaching Health Board & Anor v NT & Anor [2025] EWCOP 44 (T3), bluntly, illustrates why those with mental health… Read more
Brain stem death testing and the courts: procedural fairness, and the definitive diagnosis of death
The issue of brain stem death testing (or, more formally, diagnosing death by neurological criteria) is one that has been… Read more
Capacity and marriage – the changes brought about in Ireland by the Assisted Decision-Making (Capacity) Act 2015
In the Matter of AB is an extremely interesting decision from the Circuit Court in Ireland. It concerns the capacity… Read more
Communicating the communication limb of the capacity test
Re BV (Medical Treatment – Renal Cancer: Nephrectomy) [2025] EWCOP 41 (T3) is a relatively ‘routine’ medical treatment case (without,… Read more
Natural justice and costs in the Court of Protection
Riddle v NA [2025] EWCOP 39 (T3) raises questions about the fitness for purpose of a key plank of the… Read more
Holding the risk in medical treatment cases
Re RS (Best Interests: Surgery and Intensive Care) [2025] EWCOP 38 (T3) is a case which demonstrates the care and… Read more