Mental Health

The difficulties in the law for the mentally vulnerable affect the conduct of many cases by criminal practitioners. Garden Court also provides a specialist service in other areas of mental health law. 

Our expertise includes representation at difficult Mental Health Review Tribunals (MHRT), including restricted patient applications; judicial review of MHRT decisions; guardianship, and proceedings involving displacement of the nearest relative – in which we have several experienced practitioners. We also have wide experience in conducting claims for damages for those improperly detained or treated by psychiatric institutions.

The mental health team participates in the activities of many practitioner groups: our barristers edit the Community Care Law Reports and two of our team members sit as part-time presidents of the Mental Health Review Tribunal.

Our notable cases include:

R (C ) v Mental Health Review Tribunal [2002] 1 WLR 176 (CA). This case overturned a practice where patients had to wait excessive times for a Mental Health Review Tribunal hearing.

R (DR) v Mersey Care NHS Trust  [2002] EWHC 1810 Admin. A challenge to whether someone was in fact lawfully detained for purposes of treatment. 

R (application of S S G) v Liverpool City Council & Secretary of State (2002) 5 CCLR 639. This case established the equality for same-sex couples in mental health law in relation to consultation with nearest relatives.

R (H) v Ashworth Hospital Authority [2002] EWCA Civ 923; [2003] 1 WLR 127. Relates to the lawfulness of second section by ASW.

R (von Brandenburg) v Tower Hamlets LBC [2003] UKHL 58, [2004] 2 AC 280. Relates to the legality of a second admission under MHA 1983 after previous discharge.

Civil Clerks

If you would like more information about our Mental Health team email the clerks civilclerks@gclaw.co.uk
or call us on 020 7993 7600

The team

Members of the Mental Health team are listed below - click on their names to go to their profiles.

Barrister Year of Call Email Address Nerida Harford-Bell 1984 Send Email Elizabeth Veats 1986 Send Email Stephen Simblet 1991 Send Email Helen Curtis 1992 Send Email Julia Krish 1992 Send Email Stephen Knafler QC 1993 Send Email Michael Paget 1995 Send Email Roger Pezzani 1997 Send Email Sadat Sayeed 2001 Send Email Tim Baldwin 2001 Send Email Andrew Eaton 2004 Send Email Stephen Marsh 2005 Send Email Sarah Hemingway 2006 Send Email Alex Grigg 2007 Send Email Kirsten Heaven 2007 Send Email Helen Foot 2008 Send Email