Chapter 13 - The Courts and Tribunals

Summary

Clinicians need to be vigilant about whether the court’s intervention is required because of a dispute or specific legal requirement in relation to their patient. Circumstances may arise when it is necessary to obtain authority from a court regarding the lawfulness of a treatment (either to be given or withdrawn) when a patient refuses, lacks capacity or there is a difference of opinion regarding best interests. In other cases, a judgment from the court may protect a clinician from claims that they have acted unlawfully. Of course, the courts are also there to safeguard the welfare of the patient. We discuss the role of the First-Tier Tribunal (Mental Health) and that of decision-making capacity of patients to participate in tribunal proceedings. We then explain the Court of Protection and its powers, and the pathways for application to the court, as well as the evidence that a clinician may be required to provide. We consider common health and welfare cases that the Court of Protection may be asked to decide on and then discuss the role of the inherent jurisdiction of the High Court in protecting the vulnerable but capacitous.