I have not written much about the COVID-19 inquiry on this site. In part this is because, having been very… Read more
The COVID-19 inquiry – two key healthcare recommendations
Category: Case comments
An ‘intolerable’ deprivation of liberty – and the need for reasons
No one will ever entirely fill the shoes of the late Sir James Munby, one of whose defining characteristics was… Read more
Capacity as a social construct, and the problem of untangling the spider’s web
Many, including, me, who read the judgment of Poole J in SW v Nottingham City Council & Anor [2025] EWCOP 53… Read more
Personal welfare deputies – Lawson and Mottram strikes back?
Personal welfare deputyship cases are like buses – you wait ages, and then three come along all at once. After… Read more
Personal welfare deputies, the Court of Protection and Article 8 ECHR
Re XY [2025] EWCOP 55 (T2)[1] is an important decision about the powers of welfare deputies. The specific facts of… Read more
Is there space for clinical decision-making in relation to incapacitated adults? The CA pronounces
The Court of Appeal in Townsend v Epsom & Helier University Hospitals NHS Trust [2026] EWCA Civ 195 has handed… Read more
Withdrawing clinically inappropriate life-sustaining treatment – the latest Strasbourg word
In light of the cases that are coming before the Court of Protection about the dividing line between treatments which… Read more
Parental responsibility and confinement – the need for appellate authority continues (and a Gillick conundrum) – updated
[I have now updated this post to take account of another decision of Henke J’s handed down shortly after the East… Read more
Personal injury payments, reverse indemnities and charging for care costs
[This is a guest post by Arianna Kelly, whose expertise in matters relating to charging for social care in the… Read more
“Third sector” deputyship – a further iteration of the requirements for appointment
In Re AB (Enable & Thrive Ltd) [2026] EWCOP 11 (T3), Senior Judge Hilder, not without a certain degree of… Read more