Re P (Property & Affairs Deputyship: Jurisdiction)

Summary

In Re P (Property & Affairs Deputyship: Jurisdiction) [2024] EWCOP 77 (T2), HHJ Burrows confirmed that the Court of Protection has the power to revoke a property and affairs deputyship (and, we would add also, a health and welfare deputyship) irrespective of whether the person is still in the jurisdiction: see paragraph 33.  The judgment also contains some useful consideration of what to do where the person appears to have been removed from the jurisdiction and their whereabouts are unknown – whilst not strictly relevant to the question narrowly before the court, it is clear that HHJ Burrows was very concerned about P’s welfare, and was taking steps to get the matter transferred to the High Court for further consideration.  In such cases, we note that it is vitally important that (in lay terms) the court gets a move on, because habitual residence is not fixed at the point of the application being issued, and can be lost simply by passage of time (see Re PO).  At that point, the High Court (but not the Court of Protection) retains a nationality-based inherent jurisdiction to protect British nationals – although this is not without its complexities (see Re XS and Re Clarke).