Mental Capacity Report - June 2021

Welcome to the June 2021 Mental Capacity Report. Highlights this month include:

(1) In the Health, Welfare and Deprivation of Liberty Report: substance over form in DoLS authorisations, complex questions of coercion in medical treatment, and the limits of fluctuating capacity in the context of sex;

(2) In the Property and Affairs Report: a brisk dismissal of an attempt to appeal a judgment of Senior Judge Hilder about charging by a deputy, and easy read guides to making LPAs;

(3) In the Practice and Procedure Report: an important rapid consultation on hearings and the judicial view of remote hearings;

(4) In the Wider Context Report: the CPR responds to vulnerability, strengthening the right to independent living, capacity in the rear view mirror and the ECHR and the CRPD at loggerheads;

(5) In the Scotland Report: the Mental Welfare Commission on hospital discharges, change at Scottish Government (but how much) and welfare guardianships and deprivation of liberty.

Alex has recorded a 'walkthrough' of this month's report which you can view here.

You can find our past issues, our case summaries, and more on our dedicated sub-site here, where you can also find updated versions of both our capacity and best interests guides.   We have taken a deliberate decision not to cover all the host of COVID-19 related matters that might have a tangential impact upon mental capacity in the Report. Chambers has created a dedicated COVID-19 page with resources, seminars, and more, here; Alex maintains a resources page for MCA and COVID-19 here, and Neil a page here.   If you want more information on the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, which we frequently refer to in this Report, we suggest you go to the Small Places website run by Lucy Series of Cardiff University.

Click here for the screen-friendly version of the Report

Click here for the print-friendly version of the Report