Law and Rights
A court which is perhaps known to few people is the Court of Protection. It exists to decide cases involving persons who no longer have the mental capacity to make their own decisions. The court - (in its present form) - came into being under the Mental Capacity Act 2005 s.45. The court often has to make the difficult decision about what is the "best interests" of such persons. This was eventually bound to result in a challenge based on Article 5 of the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights. The challenge came - G v E and others [2010] EWCA Civ 822 - where the Court of Appeal (Civil Division) considered whether Article 5 imposed conditions which had to be met before detention based on the 2005 Act would be lawful. The court has ruled that it does not. Also, in particular, psychiatric evidence is not necessarily required. Justification of detention under the Act is not a medical decision but a decision for the court to be made in the best interests of the person. This must be right. Parliament has entrusted this decision-making to the judges appointed to sit in this important court.
- Ian Brady - Tribunal Hearing June 2013
It was in 1966 that Ian Brady and Myra Hindley were convicted at Chester Assizes* (Fenton Atkinson J and a jury) of the murders of children. Both were sentenced to life imprisonment. Hindley died in November 2002. Brady has been held...
- Domestic Law And The European Convention On Human Rights - No. 4
This is the fourth post in a short series aimed at showing how the European Convention on Human Rights (E Conv HR) and the Human Rights Act 1998 (HRA) have made significant and beneficial changes to our domestic law. The earlier posts in the series...
- Court Of Protection ~ Anorexic Patient ~ Capacity To Refuse Treatment
Updated 19th June and 20th June "We only live once ? we are born once and we die once ? and the difference between life and death is the biggest difference we know" - Peter Jackson J In the Court of Protection, Peter Jackson J has given judgment...
- Strasbourg Finds Against The Uk - Ms V Uk
The prolonged police detention of mentally-ill man without adequate medical care violated his Convention rights - M.S. v. the United Kingdom (application No. 24527/08). In a judgment which is not final, the Fourth Section of the European Court of...
- Deprivation Of Liberty: The Worrying Case Of Stephen Neary
Stephen Neary is aged 20. He is autistic. He lived with his father (Michael) until his father had a serious bout of influenza and was temporarily unable to care for him. Michael arranged for Stephen to be cared for at a local authority...
Law and Rights
Mental Capacity, "best interests" and human rights
- Ian Brady - Tribunal Hearing June 2013
It was in 1966 that Ian Brady and Myra Hindley were convicted at Chester Assizes* (Fenton Atkinson J and a jury) of the murders of children. Both were sentenced to life imprisonment. Hindley died in November 2002. Brady has been held...
- Domestic Law And The European Convention On Human Rights - No. 4
This is the fourth post in a short series aimed at showing how the European Convention on Human Rights (E Conv HR) and the Human Rights Act 1998 (HRA) have made significant and beneficial changes to our domestic law. The earlier posts in the series...
- Court Of Protection ~ Anorexic Patient ~ Capacity To Refuse Treatment
Updated 19th June and 20th June "We only live once ? we are born once and we die once ? and the difference between life and death is the biggest difference we know" - Peter Jackson J In the Court of Protection, Peter Jackson J has given judgment...
- Strasbourg Finds Against The Uk - Ms V Uk
The prolonged police detention of mentally-ill man without adequate medical care violated his Convention rights - M.S. v. the United Kingdom (application No. 24527/08). In a judgment which is not final, the Fourth Section of the European Court of...
- Deprivation Of Liberty: The Worrying Case Of Stephen Neary
Stephen Neary is aged 20. He is autistic. He lived with his father (Michael) until his father had a serious bout of influenza and was temporarily unable to care for him. Michael arranged for Stephen to be cared for at a local authority...