In one of what is likely to be one of her last decisions as a Tier 3 judge (having very… Read more
Capacity: the court and the expert, and the ‘reasons burden
Category: Capacity
A Welsh white leopard? Litigation capacity in the absence of subject-matter capacity revisited
Whether you can have capacity to conduct proceedings about a decision you lack capacity to make is a question that… 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
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
Anticipating the reasonableness of responses – time-specific capacity in action
Darlington Borough Council v AW & Ors [2025] EWCOP 33 (T3), decided in August 2025, but only published more recently,… Read more
Gillick is not a universal test – an important clarification from the Court of Appeal
For years, lawyers and clinicians have thrown around the term ‘Gillick competence’ as if it were a universal test to… Read more
Capacity in the rear view mirror – how does the presumption work?
The problem of the retrospective consideration of capacity troubled Costs Judge Whalan in Furley Page LLP v KFL [2025] EWHC… Read more
Litigation capacity – and what happens if you never had it?
Johnston v Financial Ombudsman Service [2025] EWCA Civ 551 is a case with a particularly complicated procedural history, but for present… Read more
‘Stitch,’ capacity and complexity – a masterclass in capacity determination
Cobb J is shortly to take his position on the Court of Appeal. The decision in Calderdale Metropolitan Borough Council… Read more