New blog post By Eleanor Tallon What does an experienced social worker and best interests assessor make of the Supreme Court hearing revisiting Cheshire West? openjusticecourtofprotection.org/2025/10/29/l...

Welfare deputies should always be consulted & will be the decision-maker for some decisions. I’ve been a deputy for 15yrs & it’s crucial for supporting my brain-injured sister. But disturbing case reveals how deputies were excluded openjusticecourtofprotection.org/2025/05/16/d...

Please share! Public lecture - Mr Justice Nicklin - Open Justice: Fit for Purpose - Wednesday 4 June 2025 17:00 to 19:00 Location: Green Templeton College, University of Oxford Speaker: The Honourable Mr Justice Nicklin Register here: www.gtc.ox.ac.uk/news-and-eve...

Interesting piece for any doctor involved in Court of Protection hearings

My new blog for @openjusticecop.bsky.social on the recent Supreme Court judgment that considers when and how freedom of expression can justifiably be limited. I think it has implications beyond life-sustaining treatment cases. What do you think? openjusticecourtofprotection.org/2025/04/25/r...

This is such great news! And this blog has some valuable learning points for professionals of almost every variety

Draconian reporting restrictions in a contempt of court case: Severing continuity between judgments By @doccmartin.bsky.social and @amandaaphill.bsky.social openjusticecourtofprotection.org/2025/04/07/d...

The judge in this hearing was full of praise for P's social worker, and I thought it was worth highlighting. In the event I need a social worker fighting my corner, I hope it's someone like this

This is very worrying: "Is the Court of Protection still sending family members to prison in secret? I don’t know for sure. But I suspect the answer is ‘yes’."

a compelling example of the dehumanising of someone who needs a health service, and his family, while the judge 'referees' the funding arguments

@thesmallplaces.bsky.social points out that the public bodies making best interests decision, rather than XY's mum (who's also his Health and Welfare) deputy), "seems like an example of bureaucratic overreach". Have a read - it's some really interesting commentary

A very clear, comprehensive and thoughtful blog, thanks @clarkdaniel.bsky.social I found @doccmartin.bsky.social's commentary on complaints very interesting.

Calling lawyers/academics: We'd love a blog addressing civil vs criminal standards of proof. This comes up a lot in discussions with families in COP hearings. Not much has been written about it. Please contact me if you're interested. (I found this: scholarship.law.cornell.edu/facpub/222/)

A lack of accountability for implementing best interests decisions. Family members being excluded. Failures to comply with court orders. The inability of these public bodies to work together to help a young man is shocking openjusticecourtofprotection.org/2025/02/27/a...

New blog post by @amandaaphill.bsky.social openjusticecourtofprotection.org/2025/02/23/p...

Last October I was in London to investigate how accessible (or not) two court buildings are. First Avenue House fared much better than the Royal Courts of Justice but both were plagued by small text on signs. Even a notice that said you could ask for documents in large print were in small print!

An interesting post. I’m not really sure what the solution is to the problems with the Royal Courts of Justice. Ever since the building opened, people have been making (well-founded) jokes about it being a maze. It was even mentioned in the LCJ’s opening speech. Or this example from later in 1883.

New blog post from the Open Justice Court of Protection Project. Hayden J approves experimental treatment requested by woman with anorexia. openjusticecourtofprotection.org/2025/02/03/j...

The failure of parliament to take action on DoLS means that "the backlog [in processing applications] will grow and grow, and more and more people will be deprived of their liberty without adequate safeguards" openjusticecourtofprotection.org/2025/01/31/d...

I'm a little late to reading this but it was worth the wait. It's an excellent book that rigorously pursues the evidence of Heidegger's commitment to Nazism. There's also engagement with Hannah Arendt's analysis of Heidegger without the unnecessary references to their relationship that others make

*Calling legal people* Why does the Court of Appeal sit as a panel? I can't seem to find an answer that would be unique to a *panel* as opposed a single judge

New blog post from @kitzingercelia.bsky.social @openjusticecop.bsky.social openjusticecourtofprotection.org/2025/01/07/u...

Wowzers, look at this graph of CQC ratings for for-profit, local authority and third sector care providers - says it all really...

As Celia says here, it's now very rare to see a journalist in Court of Protection hearings. When they are there, they often don't address the court or report on proceedings. That leaves it up to the public to 'fly the flag' of transparency: something that "can feel like a disproportionate burden"

"How many people would consider that having their every interaction supervised amounts to what they mean by having Christmas with their family? I certainly wouldn’t." openjusticecourtofprotection.org/2024/12/23/l...

I too am not Spartacus. Where lawyers are associated with the causes of their clients, lawyers are at risk. Keeping our distance is our responsibility to those of our profession on the frontlines all over the world.

Heather Walton can be named as the mother of a P in a Court of Protection case. 2 days ago I could have been held in contempt of court for saying that: fined, had my assets seized or even been sent to prison. A blog: @openjusticecop.bsky.social openjusticecourtofprotection.org/2024/12/10/a...

Been thinking about this since I read it yesterday. Arrogance, confidence and intrenched positions; alongside the blind belief of those who work for the state (especially local authority/NHS staff). A heady combination, which often results in deathly consequences (literally, not hyperbole).

This week! Still time to sign up for our next webinar - How to Observe Remote Court of Protection hearings. Thursday 5th December 2024 5-6pm Email [email protected] and we will send you the link.

How about adding into the Assisted Dying Bill an amendment to the NHS Act 2006 so that hospices are on the list of services the NHS has to provide?

The concept of structural injustice means "we can describe certain processes (like closed proceedings) as an injustice without also making a claim that those who engage with them are bad actors" openjusticecourtofprotection.org/2024/11/24/i...

Thinking of doing a PhD? These OU ones look great to me: • Leveraging technology on service inclusion & wellbeing (Business/Law) • Policing Online Harms: Protecting Women & Girls in the Digital Age (Bus/Law) • Empowering families affected by dementia (w/ @ageuk.bsky.social)

Is this the beginning of a recognition that spending on legal aid leads to savings overall, & that legal aid is an integral part of affecting change?

Talk about the "compatibility" of B and a potential flatmate,"evoked images (in my mind) of a type of conveyer belt social care where people live together without having had the chance to decide for themselves whether they actually get on"

Added two heavyweights to my #OpenJustice starter pack as @inquest-org.bsky.social and @openjusticecop.bsky.social have both joined this space in the last 24hrs go.bsky.app/T1DRtFL

It's all well and good to have an appeal heard in open court but the public need to know what is actually being appealed. Hopefully the judgment is published as a matter of urgency

Hello to everyone on Bluesky - we've just joined. We're promoting #OpenJustice in the English Court of Protection by supporting members of the public to observe and blog about court hearings in the #NotSecretCourt Check out our website openjusticecourtofprotection.org

The concept of structural injustice means "we can describe certain processes (like closed proceedings) as an injustice without also making a claim that those who engage with them are bad actors" openjusticecourtofprotection.org/2024/11/24/i...

Transparency Orders should be anonymised. Mistakes do happen so we'll always let lawyers and the court know when those mistakes are made. That's only effective when someone acts on it, which didn't happen here

Thank you for updating your earlier blog post Daniel to cover the further problems with the Transparency Order (and the lawyers' failure to fix it) in this case. It's truly dispiriting. openjusticecourtofprotection.org/2024/10/28/t...

Some of the distress in this case could have been avoided if the Transparency Order had been properly discussed beforehand. And lawyers, it's true - there's a time and a place for you to air views like this. It's not outside courtroom doors (especially when you know how to contact us...)

Worth emphasising the lawyer's (I think accurate) evocation of Arendt's "banality of evil" to describe what was done to Gisèle Pelicot. This describes the "terrifyingly normal", those who cannot "think from the standpoint of somebody else" - something that facilitates evil actions

I have had a go at creating a Court of Protection starter pack off the back of a relatively quick search on here. I have undoubtedly missed a lot of people, so feel free to let me know if I have. #starterpack #CourtofProtection #COP go.bsky.app/THz8BHw

This is one of the best chapters of Justice and the Politics of Difference. In my view it needs to be read alongside 'House and Home: Feminist Variations on a Theme', where Young discusses the interaction of social services with her, her mother, and her sister

A lovely start to the day

Interesting piece on Joshua Rozenberg’s Substack about the private prosecution Reform MPs are bringing. If their supporters start copycat prosecutions for things they see on Facebook, there may be some nasty shocks if costs are awarded. rozenberg.substack.com/p/farage-goe...

'Another recalled: “I said: ‘Why’s the door locked?’ and they said: ‘Because you’ve been put on a three-month DoL order.’”' www.theguardian.com/society/2024...

“The angel would like to stay, awaken the dead, and make whole what has been smashed. But a storm is blowing in from Paradise; it has got caught in his wings ..: The storm irresistibly propels him into the future.” Walter Benjamin On the Concept of History

UK organisations and individuals helping "lay" people, ie non-legal professionals, understand and access the law #starterpack #law #lay #UK go.bsky.app/S7iL8BE

Just imagine if the extraordinary barristers who have left the criminal bar were suppported by decent renumeration and conditions to come back, enriched by their experience of other areas of law or other walks of life.