Court of Protection Rules—a new start, asks Malcolm Skinner
The Court of Protection Rules Committee (set up in December 2009 to undertake a review of the 2007 Rules and the practice and directions that supplemented them) reported on 29 July 2010 and its recommendations were accepted by the president of the Court of Protection. The proposals were directed at speeding up the processes and making the non-contentious cases that came before the court less time-consuming and easier to conclude.
There were five main recommendations, essentially dealing with the practice and procedure of the court. It was accepted that the setting up of the new court by the Mental Capacity Act 2005 was a radical departure from the old jurisdiction arrangements where the patient’s property and affairs were dealt with by the old Court of Protection and their health and welfare by the High Court.
The divergence of practice and procedure between the courts was understandable but did not sit easily with either the transfer of the issues of both property and welfare to the new Court of Protection or the stated policy of
