Court of Protection Hub
  • Home
  • Resources
  • Cases
  • News & Views
  • About the book
  • About the site

Cases

Re A (Covert Medication: Closed Proceedings [2022] EWCOP 44

23/10/2022

 
Judgment concerning best interests of A and whether she should receive covert medical treatment and reporting of proceedings where there had been closed and open hearings. 
A is a 23 year-old woman with a diagnosis of Asperger's, epilepsy and primary ovarian failure. She had been taken from her mother's (B), care out of concern that she had not yet started puberty, which could have serious long-term effects and the fears that she would continue to be influenced by B. During that care a covert medication placed was commenced providing A with hormones to induce puberty: A was offered the hormones, but if she refused then they were administered covertly. The plan was not discussed with B and was the subject of closed CoP proceedings. Legal bloggers had reported on earlier hearings in open court but had no knowledge of the closed proceedings.

This judgment is in two parts dealing with the closed and open hearings. Part One deals with the application concerning the covert medication plan. Poole J decides that continuing the covert medication was in A's best interest in the short-term as it had provided irreversible advantages for her physical and mental health though it needed to continue. However, a fresh look would be required for the longer term as the ongoing proceedings and the consequent open hearing would mean that A and B would be informed of the cover medication. Part Two deals with what reporting restrictions should remain. Poole J recognises that the case is possibly unique, that Article 10 is engaged as the use of covert medical treatment authorised by the court is of public concern and that blogging about the hearing would be meaningless without knowledge of the covert treatment. At [83] discharges the RRO:

"The RRO concerns convention rights and A’s best interests. There is considerable and understandable anxiety to remove any chance of A discovering that she has been and continues to be covertly medicated. An RRO might go some way towards preventing those who know A or know of her, from finding out about the use of covert medication, but there seems to me to be a very slim chance of anyone then conveying that information to A, and there is an even lower chance of A herself accessing a report of the case and realising that she has been covertly medicated. Weighing the risks of that happening against the importance of open justice, weighing the convention rights to which I have referred and scrutinising the comparative rights with an intense focus, in my judgement the RRO should be discharged. The protections of A’s interests afforded by the Transparency Order and injunction, allow the RRO to be lifted."

Read the judgment on the National Archives.

Comments are closed.
    Case summaries on every Court of Protection case & other relevant decisions with links to the full judgment where available. 

    Support the Hub
    This site is free to access but if you find it useful then please consider a contribution by way of support for our work.  Click here to contribute.

    Sign up for our free email alert

    We do not share your details with any third parties and you can unsubscribe at  any time

    RSS Feed


    More from Bath Publishing


    Browse

    Categories

    All
    Advance Decisions
    Assessments
    Best Interests
    Capacity
    Committal
    Contact
    Contempt Of Court
    Coronavirus
    Costs
    Deputies
    Disclosure
    DNA Testing
    DOLs
    End Of Life Decisions
    Finance
    Gifts
    Habitual Residence
    Human Rights
    Inherent Jurisdiction
    Injunctions
    International
    Jurisdiction
    LPA/EPA
    LPAs
    Medical Treatment
    Personal Welfare
    Practice & Procedure
    Pregnancy & Contraception
    Publicity
    Religion
    Reporting
    Residence
    Settlement
    Sexual Relations
    Statutory Will
    Sterilisation And Termination

    Archives

    February 2023
    January 2023
    December 2022
    November 2022
    October 2022
    September 2022
    August 2022
    July 2022
    June 2022
    May 2022
    April 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    February 2017
    October 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015


Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.
  • Home
  • Resources
  • Cases
  • News & Views
  • About the book
  • About the site