Keith Wilding believes there is much to recommend an expansion of the tribunal adjudication system
- Current safeguarding laws are fragmented and complex.
- The Law Commission has recommended a review of deprivation of liberty safeguards.
In May 2017, the Prime Minister suggested that the ‘flawed’ Mental Health Act 1983 should be replaced. The 1983 Act is only one aspect of legislation in the area of law dealing with matters of mental health, mental incapacity, and vulnerability.
The Law Commission’s final report on Mental Capacity and Deprivation of Liberty (Law Comm No 372 (Summary)) in discussing the rights of challenge to authorisations of deprivations of liberty recommends (at para 86) reviewing the question of the appropriate judicial body for determining such challenges. This seems to be a clear indication that the role of the First-tier Tribunal (a mental health tribunal) should be considered as the forum for such adjudication. There is much to recommend an expansion of the tribunal adjudication system both from the perspective of the person in respect of whom a decision needs to be made, their relatives, and
