As of 18th September 2023, the Powers of Attorney Act has become law for England and Wales, providing a greater legislative framework and direction around Lasting Powers of Attorney and related matters.
Read More »Powers of Attorney Act 2023
If an adult in care can only select from a limited number of closed options, then do they really have what we might describe as ‘choice’?
Lucy Series argues that in many ways, we have come on a long way from the outmoded restrictive institutions of old. However, there are many new modern-age deprivations that have risen in their place. For example, many care homes will enforce a certain structure to the day in order to enable the cost-effective provision of meals, activities, and personal care support. In doing so, they are restricting natural choices and freedoms, while also enacting a system of close monitoring.
Read More »Mental Capacity: Is choice the same as freedom?
Surveillance has become a common part of everyday life. From CCTV and alarms to remote monitoring cameras and GPS tracking on mobile phones, there are so many different ways of tracking our movements and the things that we do.
Read More »Mental capacity: monitoring and consent
A rule 1.2 representative is required when a Community Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards (DoLS) order is put in place. If the individual does not have an appropriate close friend or relative who is independent of their care and treatment to act as their rule 1.2 representative, then an independent advocate or paid representative may be required.
Read More »What is a rule 1.2 representative?
It’s estimated that the average person makes around 35,000 decisions every single day. While this may seem a huge number, many of these are ‘micro decisions’ that we make without even thinking; the sorts of things that might have required great effort during childhood, but which in adulthood require barely any conscious effort at all.
Read More »Mental Capacity and the complex nature of decision-makingThe role of a Relevant Person’s Representative (RPR) is to be an independent and impartial voice working on behalf of the relevant person under a Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards (DoLS) authorisation. They are there to support inclusion, knowledge, rights and promote the person’s voice within the DoLS process, performing a vital safeguarding role to help monitor its application. As part of this role, an RPR should raise a Section 21a challenge to the Court of Protection if the person they are representing voices an objection to DoLS.
Read More »When should an RPR make a section 21a application to the Court of Protection?
In previous blogs, we have explored some of the many different elements required to assess mental capacity for a specific decision. This brings us then to the two stage test, which is composed of the functional and diagnostic steps that are then bound together as part of the causative nexus (the justifiable link).
Read More »Mental capacity two stage test: Is a formal diagnosis required?
The Mental Capacity Act (2005) was designed to help protect the rights of some of society’s most vulnerable people. One of the most frequently overlooked elements of the Act is principle #3: the right to make what others may perceive to be an unwise decision.
Read More »Case study: The right to make an unwise decision
There are many elements of daily life that we don’t learn about until we reach certain stages of our lives or have greater levels of independence in our everyday lives. For example, on first moving away from a parents or caregivers home, a whole new world of experiences and responsibilities will suddenly occur. This can be anything from how to change a lightbulb or put up a shelf, to how to organise a loan or buy a car.
Read More »Assessing capacity around unfamiliar topics
In the final part of our series on the Adults with Incapacity Act for Scotland (AWI), we look at important issues relating to power of attorney (PoA), guardianship, intervention orders and monitoring bodies.
Read More »Adults with Incapacity Act (Scotland): Part 3