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NLJ this week: Surreptitious medication & the Court of Protection

20 January 2023
Issue: 8009 / Categories: Legal News , Court of Protection , Mental health
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Barrister Dr Laura Davidson explored the murky legal world of covert medication and the lack of legal safeguards surrounding these, in the second part of her series on Court of Protection practices, in this week’s NLJ.

Davidson, of No5 Chambers, specialises in mental health and capacity law. Here, she looks into a specific case (Re A (Covert medication: closed proceedings [2022] EWCOP 44). Having set down a detailed history of the case in the first part of her article, she now covers the hearing ‘following disclosure of the surreptitious medication duplicity’, reflects on the lawfulness of excluding the mother of the young woman at the centre of the case and discusses the practice of covert medication itself.

The court had previously held that contact between the mother and daughter was not in the daughter’s best interests due to the risk of adverse influence, but in the meantime hormone treatment was given. What safeguards exist in this situation? It can lead to a complicated situation for the court. Davidson writes: ‘Poole J’s strange decision to inform B and her lawyers of the non-disclosure only at the start of B’s application for A’s return home was an unnecessary ambush, unsurprisingly leading to an adjournment for B to properly consider the issues and documentation.’

Read Pt 2 in full here.

MOVERS & SHAKERS

Birketts—trainee cohort

Birketts—trainee cohort

Firm welcomes new cohort of 29 trainee solicitors for 2025

Keoghs—four appointments

Keoghs—four appointments

Four partner hires expand legal expertise in Scotland and Northern Ireland

Brabners—Ben Lamb

Brabners—Ben Lamb

Real estate team in Yorkshire welcomes new partner

NEWS
Robert Taylor of 360 Law Services warns in this week's NLJ that adoption of artificial intelligence (AI) risks entrenching disadvantage for SME law firms, unless tools are tailored to their needs
The Court of Protection has ruled in Macpherson v Sunderland City Council that capacity must be presumed unless clearly rebutted. In this week's NLJ, Sam Karim KC and Sophie Hurst of Kings Chambers dissect the judgment and set out practical guidance for advisers faced with issues relating to retrospective capacity and/or assessments without an examination
Delays and dysfunction continue to mount in the county court, as revealed in a scathing Justice Committee report and under discussion this week by NLJ columnist Professor Dominic Regan of City Law School. Bulk claims—especially from private parking firms—are overwhelming the system, with 8,000 cases filed weekly
Charles Pigott of Mills & Reeve charts the turbulent progress of the Employment Rights Bill through the House of Lords, in this week's NLJ
From oligarchs to cosmetic clinics, strategic lawsuits against public participation (SLAPPs) target journalists, activists and ordinary citizens with intimidating legal tactics. Writing in NLJ this week, Sadie Whittam of Lancaster University explores the weaponisation of litigation to silence critics
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