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Protecting Vulnerable People in Immigration Detention (4 May 2010)

 

Nearly 30,000 people are held in immigration detention in the UK every year. It has long been the Secretary of State (SSHD)’s own policy that those suffering from serious medical conditions or the mentally ill are normally considered suitable for immigration detention in “only very exceptional circumstances” . This rule also applies to torture victims (where there is independent evidence of the torture) and other vulnerable persons such as victims of trafficking, the disabled, pregnant women and children. They are deemed unsuitable for immigration detention because their detention requires particular “security, care and control” .

In reality many such vulnerable persons are unfortunately regularly detained in breach of this policy. In criminal cases, the risk of further offending or harm to the public may make detention justifiable despite the fact that such an individual may be unsuitable for detention from a health point of view. Less justifiable is the detention of asylum seekers (who are often suffering from mental illnesses) for their asylum claim to be heard under the accelerated “Fast Track” process.

 

 

DUNCAN LEWIS SOLICITOR NOMINATED FOR PRESTIGIOUS MENTAL HEALTH AWARD (4 May 2010)

 

Andrea Spyrou of Duncan Lewis has been shortlisted for the 2010 Mental Health Lawyer of the Year award.

 

 

Appropriate Treatment Test: How effective has this been in practice? (3 May 2010)

 

The Mental Health Act 1983 included a provision in section 3(2) (b) that ‘treatment must be likely to alleviate or prevent a deterioration of his condition’. This provision was repealed when the Mental Health Act was amended in 2007 and was replaced with the appropriate medical treatment test contained in section 3(2)(d) which states that in order to detain someone for the purpose of treatment ‘appropriate medical treatment is to be available for him’.

 

 

Mental Health Law Is Highly Specialized (11 March 2008)

 

Lawyers and doctors are constantly at loggerheads when a case raises complex legal and medical issues. In its very nature, every case is highly sensitive and the patient-client relationship depends on commitment, trust and knowledge between the triumvirate parties involved.

 

 

Dementia is Health Care Issue (3 January 2008)

 

A 94-year-old Plymouth woman has won a landmark decision that could mean hundreds of elderly people will no longer be required to fund their nursing home fees out of their own pockets.