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20 January 2023 / Laura Davidson
Issue: 8009 / Categories: Features , Court of Protection , Mental health
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Cloak & dagger in the Court of Protection? (Pt 2)

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Is it time for the shadowy practice of covert medication to be brought into the light? Dr Laura Davidson thinks so
  • The hearing following disclosure of the surreptitious medication duplicity in Re A (Covert Medication: Closed Proceedings).
  • The decision’s lawfulness in excluding from the hearings the mother of the young woman at the centre of the case.
  • The practice of covert medication and the lack of legal safeguards surrounding its use.

I recently provided a detailed history of Re A (Covert Medication: Closed Proceedings) [2022] EWCOP 44 (See Pt 1, 172 NLJ 8005, pp9-10). Here, I cover the hearing following disclosure of the surreptitious medication duplicity, reflect on the decision’s lawfulness in excluding B, the mother of the young woman at the centre of this case, from hearings, and discuss the practice of covert medication itself.

Background

Initially, a brief outline is provided for those coming to the case anew.

A, who had mild learning disability and Asperger’s

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London Solicitors Litigation Association—John McElroy

London Solicitors Litigation Association—John McElroy

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NEWS
Freezing orders in divorce proceedings can unexpectedly ensnare third parties and disrupt businesses. In NLJ this week, Lucy James of Trowers & Hamlins explains how these orders—dubbed a ‘nuclear weapon’—preserve assets but can extend far beyond spouses to companies and business partners 
A Court of Appeal ruling has clarified that ‘rent’ must be monetary—excluding tenants paid in labour from statutory protection. In this week's NLJ, James Naylor explains Garraway v Phillips, where a tenant worked two days a week instead of paying rent
Thousands more magistrates are to be recruited, under a major shake-up to speed up and expand the hiring process
Three men wrongly imprisoned for a combined 77 years have been released—yet received ‘not a penny’ in compensation, exposing deep flaws in the justice system. Writing in NLJ this week, Dr Jon Robins reports on Justin Plummer, Oliver Campbell and Peter Sullivan, whose convictions collapsed amid discredited forensics, ‘oppressive’ police interviews and unreliable ‘cell confessions’
A quiet month for employment cases still delivers key legal clarifications. In his latest Employment Law Brief for NLJ, Ian Smith reports that whistleblowing protection remains intact even where disclosures are partly self-serving, provided the worker reasonably believes they serve the ‘public interest’ 
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