Pilot scheme announced to widen public access to Court of Protection hearings

The press and the public may soon have greater access to Court of Protection hearings following the announcement of a pilot scheme to run from January 2016.

The pilot will effectively change the default position to one where hearings are held in public, allowing members of the media or public to attend, unless there is a court order in place to the contrary (as is the case with medical treatment cases at present)

The scheme will involve the court making, as standard (but with the possibility of making a different order if that is appropriate in a particular case), an order allowing for a public hearing but imposing restrictions on identifying in any report or other publication the person who is the subject of proceedings (known as ‘P’).

It is proposed that the pilot should run in all regions of England and Wales, from January 2016 and for at least six months (with the possibility of extension) to allow for the changes to be fully tested.

You can read more on this, together with the draft standard order and accompanying Practice Direction on the Judiciary website here.