Our busy Court of Protection barristers act for family members, the Official Solicitor, professional Relevant Person's Representatives and other litigation friends, local authority or healthcare bodies.
We invite instructions in court cases and advisory work from clients in all parts of England and Wales. Our barristers are regularly instructed on an urgent basis, and we are happy to provide telephone advice and draft applications at short notice.
Click here to view recent social welfare updates from the Court of Protection Team.
Our past Court of Protection webinars are available to watch on our YouTube channel via the Garden Court Chambers Court of Protection playlist.
our expertise
We cover a broad range of areas under the Mental Capacity Act 2005, with an emphasis on health and welfare issues, as well as cases under the High Court’s jurisdiction in relation to vulnerable adults. Our work includes:
- Personal welfare applications, including whether it is in the person’s best interests to live in a family home or residential care or other care setting, disputes over arrangements for contact with family members, decisions on complex/interventionist care packages involving deprivation or restriction of liberty
- Serious medical treatment applications
- Section 21A applications challenging authorisations of deprivation of liberty in a care home or hospital under the Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards (DOLS)
- Emergency applications, e.g. the transfer of a person lacking capacity to a new care setting, requiring a transfer plan with potential deprivation of liberty, requiring advance authorisation by the court
- Advising on local authority safeguarding duties and on the community care law issues arising in Court of Protection cases
- Contested applications for the appointment of deputies (welfare/financial affairs), and other property and affairs applications, e.g. issues arising under Lasting Powers of Attorney, such as applications by the Office of the Public Guardian to revoke the power
- Proceedings concerning 16 and 17 year olds, and the overlapping jurisdictions of the Court of Protection and Children Act 1989
- Members of our team can also offer expertise in related areas of law: community care, public law, mental health and family law. We can advise in these areas when they arise in Court of Protection cases and can act in related proceedings.
TRAINING AND PUBLICATIONS
We are pleased to offer training to legal practitioners and organisations. We provide webinars which are advertised on the chambers’ website and which are open to all and tailored to the training needs of the audience. Please contact the clerks to discuss how we may be able to help with any training needs you may have.
We provide case summaries and notes about recent developments in COP and other areas of social welfare law on our Social Welfare Updates page. Several members of our team are editors of the Community Care Law Reports.