The President of the Court of Protection, Sir Nicholas Wall, today published the Court of Protection Rules Committee’s Review.
The Committee was set up in December 2009 to undertake a review of the Court of Protection Rules 2007 and the practice directions and forms which accompany them. The Rules govern the practice and procedure of the Court of Protection, which is the specialist court with jurisdiction to make decisions and to appoint someone (a "deputy”) to make decisions on behalf of those who lack capacity to make decisions for themselves.
Sir Nicholas said:
"We have today published the report of the ad hoc Committee set up by Sir Mark Potter in December 2009.
"We are extremely grateful to the Committee for its hard work. We accept all the recommendations which it makes, and would support their implementation sooner rather than later. Discussions are underway on the constitution of a Committee which, in the future, will review and make recommendations relating to the procedure and practice of the Court of Protection.
"We are very pleased to see that the recommendations are directed to speeding up the process and to making non-contentious cases simpler and more user friendly. We would like to congratulate everyone associated with the court on the manner in which it has tackled the unexpected volume of work and the initial backlogs. We are confident that with the changes recommended by the Committee the Court will move forward swiftly and fulfil efficiently the important role which it has in the overall administration of justice".
Ends
Notes to Editors
- The Court of Protection Rules govern the practice and procedure of the Court of Protection and are made by the Lord Chief Justice, or a judicial office-holder nominated by him, with the agreement of the Lord Chancellor in accordance with Part 1 of Schedule 1 to the Constitutional Reform Act 2005. The President of the Court of Protection has been nominated by the Lord Chief Justice to make designated rules for this purpose.
- The Court of Protection is a specialist court created under the Mental Capacity Act 2005. It makes specific decisions, and also appoints other people (called deputies) to make decisions for people who lack the capacity to do this for themselves. These decisions are related to their property, financial affairs, health, and personal welfare. The Court of Protection replaced the former office of the Supreme Court with the same name but which only dealt with property and financial affairs.
- The terms of reference for the committee were:
"The Court of Protection Rules Committee is an ad-hoc advisory committee established by the President of the Court of Protection. Its function is to review the Court of Protection Rules 2007 which govern practice and procedure in the Court of Protection. The aim of the committee is to produce recommendations for new rules or amendments to existing rules, and supporting practice directions and forms, which set out a fair and efficient procedure in rules which are both simple and simply expressed." - For the full report see link below.
- For further information contact:
Email: Neil Ross - Court of Protection Email: Carolyn Nesbitt - Judicial Communications Office
