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Family Solicitors

New report calls for Court of Protection to be opened up (1 May 2015)

Date: 01/05/2015
Duncan Lewis, Family Solicitors, New report calls for Court of Protection to be opened up

A new report by Cardiff University’s School of Law has recommended that the Court of Protection be opened up and placed under public scrutiny.

The study involved discussions with judges and lawyers – and concluded that the Court of Protection was “not fit for purpose”.

The Court of Protection usually operates in secret with the parties remaining anonymous. Judges sitting in the Court of Protection can name local authorities involved in care proceedings at their discretion – but the identities of children or vulnerable individuals at the centre of cases remain anonymous.

Details of cases heard in the Court of Protection are usually only released weeks or even months later in a written judgment.

Some cases have prompted a public backlash when the details have been made public – including cases in which women with mental health conditions were forced to undergo Caesarean sections so that their children could be taken into local authority care immediately.

The Daily Mail reports that judges have also raised concerns that “deprivation of liberty” rules in the Mental Capacity Act may also have led to many thousands of people being unlawfully locked in care homes as a result of Court of Protection hearings.

Families have also been separated as a result of judgements by the court – including the case of 72-year-old grandmother Kathleen Danby, which the Daily Mail reported in 2014, who was forbidden by the court from seeing her granddaughter.

Mrs Danby from Orkney was arrested at a Ken Dodd concert and was later jailed for breaking a court order which prevented her from seeing her vulnerable 19-year-old granddaughter, whom she had seen in the street and had hugged. Mrs Danby spent two nights in jail before being released after suffering bruising after arrest, being deprived of her medication for a liver condition and also being denied access to a solicitor.

A judge sitting in the Court of Protection later quashed a three-month jail sentence handed to Mrs Danby for hugging her granddaughter.

The report by Cardiff University School of Law insists that the Court of Protection should be open “to enhance accountability and increase public understanding of the court’s work”.

Author of the report, Dr Lucy Series, said:

“There is no doubt that restrictions on the ways that Court of Protection cases are reported by the media are necessary to protect the privacy of those involved – but the current rules are not fit for purpose.

“Clearly, there is a need for further exploration of how the law can be framed in a way that can best accommodate the diverse situations facing the Court of Protection.

“But all participants in the research expressed support for the principle of open justice.

“Media reporting on Court of Protection cases – and the publication of judgments – were seen as important to enhance public understanding of the Court of Protection's work, to protect against miscarriages of justice and to promote public confidence in the court.”

Duncan Lewis Family Lawyers

Duncan Lewis family lawyers can advice on a wide range of family law and mental health law, including Court of Protection cases and care proceedings when children are taken into local authority care.

Duncan Lewis is a leading firm of Legal Aid solicitors and also offers fixed fees for family law cases where Legal Aid funding is not available – including cases relating to divorce, child arrangement orders, dissolution of civil partnerships, cohabiting agreements, international marriage, Islamic marriage and care of the elderly.

For expert legal advice on family law and child care matters, call Duncan Lewis family lawyers on 020 7923 4020.


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