‘More than a decade has passed since the Mental Capacity Act (‘MCA’) received royal assent. Described as a ‘visionary piece of legislation’, the MCA was a significant landmark on the legal landscape. It represented a triumph of autonomy by recognising that, as far as possible, people should play an active role in decisions about their welfare. At the core of the MCA is the fundamental principle that a person must be assumed to have decision making capacity unless it is established that he lacks it. The law therefore assumes that everyone has the ability to act and take decisions in accordance with their own interests, and affords primacy to individual priorities over paternalistic imperatives. Where a person lacks capacity – whether for reasons of learning disability, dementia, brain injury, or some other impairment of or disturbance in the functioning of the mind or brain – the MCA permits decision-makers to act on behalf of the person in accordance with his ‘best interests’. This means that, amongst other things, decision-makers must take into account the person’s past and present wishes and feelings, his beliefs and values, and any other factors that the person would be likely to consider, in order to act in a way which would likely give expression to the person’s autonomy. In this way, the MCA sought to empower people to make decisions for themselves, protect the vulnerable from the excesses of paternalism, and engineer a cultural shift in attitudes to mental impairment and incapacity.’
OUP Blog, 17th January 2017
Source: www.blog.oup.com
‘A party-loving admin assistant who was accused of conning pensioners out of more than £2million by selling fraudulent shares has been banned from directing a company but will not face criminal charges.’
Daily Telegraph, 16th January 2017
Source: www.telegraph.co.uk
Prosecutors are due to open their case against television entertainer Rolf Harris, who will follow his sex attack trial remotely.
Daily Telegraph, 11th January 2017
Source: www.telegraph.co.uk
‘A 101-year-old man – thought to be the oldest defendant convicted in England and Wales – has been found guilty of a string of historical child sex offences.’
BBC News, 16th December 2016
Source: www.bbc.co.uk
‘Former TV entertainer Rolf Harris will not have to attend his sex attack trial in person because of his age and health, a judge has ruled.’
BBC News, 15th December 2016
Source: www.bbc.co.uk
‘A 101-year-old man facing more than 30 historical child sex offences has become the oldest defendant in British legal history.’
The Independent, 6th December 2016
Source: www.independent.co.uk
‘Holocaust survivor who said living in a care home reminded her of being back in a Nazi concentration camp has been given special permission by a court to return home despite her frail condition.’
Daily Telegraph, 1st December 2016
Source: www.telegraph.co.uk
‘The upper age limit for jurors in England and Wales will be raised from 70 to 75, government ministers have announced.’
The Independent, 13th November 2016
Source: www.independent.co.uk
‘The number of cases in relation to adult care could rise with local authorities struggling to cope with a funding gap, it has been claimed.’
Local Government Lawyer, 8th November 2016
Source: www.localgovernmentlawyer.co.uk
‘Council cuts to care in England are so severe there is a real risk families may take legal action, experts say.’
BBC News, 8th November 2016
Source: www.bbc.co.uk
‘Is it ever too late to prosecute historic allegations? Richard Jory QC and Sam Jones consider whether it’s time for a rethink.’
Counsel, November 2016
Source: www.counselmagazine.co.uk
‘Magistrates should not be forced to retire at 70 if keeping them on would solve the recruitment crisis, a committee of MPs have said.’
Daily Telegraph, 19th October 2016
Source: www.telegraph.co.uk
‘Too many magistrates in England and Wales are “old and white”, one of the youngest justices in the country says.’
BBC News, 19th October 2016
Source: www.bbc.co.uk
‘A pensioner evicted from the hospital bed she occupied for 14 months has said she cannot pay the £8,000 legal bill she faces. Diane Price, 79, was transferred to a rehabilitation unit at Lewes Victoria Hospital in East Sussex after breaking her leg in a car crash last May. She refused to leave despite doctors telling her she should return home. Sussex Community NHS Foundation Trust won a possession order in the High Court to free up her bed.’
BBC News, 11th October 2016
Source: www.bbc.co.uk
‘A care home that allowed a 91-year-old woman to die of severe hypothermia has been fined £1.6m.’
The Guardian, 28th September 2016
Source: www.guardian.co.uk
‘Record numbers of care home residents are being deprived of their liberty by being put in straps, locked in or given behaviour-controlling drugs, fuelling fears that some are being mistreated.’
The Guardian, 28th September 2016
Source: www.guardian.co.uk
‘An influx of Eastern European criminals risks clogging up the criminal justice system and placing an extra burden on its finances, a senior Old Bailey judge warns. His Honour Judge Tim Pontius also expresses concern at the surge in historic sex abuse cases which he called “troubling”, while conceding that the system is struggling to cope with young Islamist terrorists.’
Daily Telegraph, 7th September 2016
Source: www.telegraph.co.uk
‘A pensioner who battled with his neighbours over a patch of land could be sent to jail if he walks on the grass outside his home.’
Daily Telegraph, 31st August 2016
Source: www.telegraph.co.uk
‘A man who shot his 81-year-old wife dead at a care home has been sentenced to six years in a psychiatric hospital.’
The Guardian, 24th August 2016
Source: www.guardian.co.uk
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