Main Page

Mental Health Law Online

The internet resource on mental health law, and mental capacity law, for England & Wales. You can sign up for free email updates, the online forum and the CPD scheme (which provides 12 hours for £60 and is suitable for lawyers and non-lawyers). The abbreviations are similar but MHLO, MHLA and MHLR are all different.

The main content of this website has been divided into Case law (2353), Legislation (380) and Resources (1,037), together with separate Information pages (328) to link everything together.

  Forum topics


Contacts

The Magic Book is a database of contact details which currently contains 304 pages.


  News and updates

All the latest updates to the website can be seen on on the MHLO updates forum category. The five most recent appear here.

  • 08/09/24: Mental capacity law newsletter. 39 Essex Chambers, 'Mental Capacity Report' (issue 143, September 2024) — "Highlights this month include: (1) In the Health, Welfare and Deprivation of Liberty Report: the Court of Appeal on belief and capacity, and both sexual and medical complexities before the courts; (2) In the Property and Affairs Report: a guest post updating deputies and attorneys on important responsibilities; (3) In the Practice and Procedure Report: which decisions are for doctors, and which for the courts; jury-rigging Article 5(4) compliance in community DoL cases, and transparency under the spotlight; (4) In the Mental Health Matters Report: a Mental Health Bill on the way, the hard edges of the MHA 1983 and the CQC and Valdo Calocane; (5) In the Wider Context Report: the limits of Article 3 in the context of the inherent jurisdiction, the CQC and covert medication and Lord Falconer’s Assisted Dying Bill; (6) In the Scotland Report: the Scottish Government consults on legislative measures to respond to the Scott Review and a report from the World Congress on Adult Care and Support."
  • 08/09/24: Case (Nursing care home - functions of public nature). Sammut v Next Steps Mental Healthcare Ltd [2024] EWHC 2265 (KB) — The patient died while in a nursing care home operated by the first defendant. The claimant sought damages for clinical negligence and false imprisonment, and under s7 HRA 1998. The High Court struck out the HRA claim (and alternatively would have granted the first defendant summary judgment) as the first defendant was not a public authority or exercising a public function. The House of Lords decision in YL, that a private care home was not performing functions of a public nature had been overidden by Parliament in certain circumstances (by s145 Health and Social Care Act 2008 and now s73 Care Act 2014) but those circumstances did not apply in this case: the "absence of any special statutory power" (since this patient had been unlawfully deprived of his liberty without DOLS authorisation) was an "important factor" in that decision! The Article 2 claim would have been struck out in any event as the required "very exceptional circumstances" required before the State could become responsible for the acts and omissions of health care providers were not present.
  • 02/09/24: Case (Section 117 reimbursement). Kent County Council (23 012 780) [2024] MHLO 1 (LGSCO) — The council (having initially ignored a complaint) repaid £114,721.36 which had wrongly been charged between 2002 and 2021 and (having initally paid no interest) agreed to pay £17,368.50 interest, and was directed to pay £700 to remedy distress and £300 to acknowledge the time and trouble pursuing the complaint.
  • 02/09/24: Mental health Legal Aid form. Legal Aid Agency, 'Form CW 1&2 MH' (v20, September 2024) — The LAA website update dated 1/9/24 states: "CW1&2 MH and CWC MH updated to reference the 2024 Standard Civil Contract." Note that para 3.12 of the 2018 Standard Civil Contract Specification states: "We may amend the Application Forms from time to time upon giving at least 28 days' notice to you." At the very least (if the website update counts as contractual notice) they will have to accept the old version for 28 days after 1/9/24.


  Consultations

No open consultations.


  To do

Things that will end up with their own MHLO pages, when I have time...


  Email updates

Choose occasional and/or monthly update emails. To sign up, please go to the email updates subscription page.


  CPD

The CPD scheme is primarily aimed at mental health solicitors, and is an ideal way to evidence your continued competence, but is also suitable for barristers, psychiatrists, social workers and psychiatric nurses. For £60, you can obtain 12 CPD credits.


  Jobs

Advertise your vacancies here

  • No current job adverts


  Events

Advertise your events here


  Books

Please support MHLO by buying your books via our affiliate links - either from Amazon or from Bookshop.org (a new website which supports independent bookshops).

Cover - MHT Essential Guide.jpg


Retrieved from "https://www.mentalhealthlaw.co.uk/index.php?title=Main_Page&oldid=63423"