L was adult autistic. He had been admitted to mental hospital for fear of his self-harming behaviours, and detained informally. He complained that that detention was unlawful.
Held: The continued detention of a mental health patient who is incapable of giving consent is unlawful in the absence of the hospital following the statutory procedures.
Owen J
Gazette 08-Jan-1998, Times 08-Dec-1997, [1997] EWHC Admin 850, [1998] 2 WLR 764
Mental Health Act 1983 131(1)
England and Wales
Citing:
Cited – Meering v Grahame-White Aviation Co Ltd CA 1919
An unconscious or drugged person may be detained. For the tort of false imprisonment there must be shown a complete restriction in fact on the plaintiff’s freedom to move: ‘any restraint within defined bounds which is a restraint in fact may be an . .
Cited – Regina v Kirklees Borough Council ex parte C (A Minor) CA 12-Apr-1993
A Local Authority may admit a minor in care to a mental hospital for assessment or treatment. Section 131 merely preserves or confirms the common law and previous law. Consent requires proof of conduct and a reasoning capacity. . .
Cited – Black v Forsey HL 20-May-1988
The common law was called in aid to supplement the statutory power of compulsory detention to fill a lacuna which had appeared in the 1984 Act.
Held: The common law could not be invoked for that purpose, because the powers of detention . .
Cited – In re F (Mental Patient: Sterilisation) HL 4-May-1989
Where a patient lacks capacity, there is the power to provide him with whatever treatment or care is necessary in his own best interests. Medical treatment can be undertaken in an emergency even if, through a lack of capacity, no consent had been . .
Cited by:
Cited – L v United Kingdom ECHR 5-Oct-2004
The claimant had suffered mental illness and threatened to hurt himself. He was taken into hospital as a voluntary patient, but in effect detained compulsorily. He lacked capacity to consent to medical treatment.
Held: The holding of a patient . .
At Admn – Regina v Bournewood Community and Mental Health NHS Trust, Ex parte L CA 2-Dec-1997
The applicant was severely autistic, and unable to consent to medical treatment. He had been admitted voluntarly to a mental hospital and detained under common law powers. The Hospital trust appealed a finding that his detention had been unlawful. . .
At Admn – In Re L (By His Next Friend GE); Regina v Bournewood Community and Mental Health NHS Trust, Ex Parte L HL 25-Jun-1998
The applicant was an adult autistic, unable to consent to medical treatment. Treatment was provided at a day centre. He had been detained informally under the Act and against the wishes of his carers, but the Court of Appeal decided he should have . .
At First instance – HL v United Kingdom ECHR 2004
Patient’s lack of Safeguards was Infringement
The claimant had been detained at a mental hospital as in ‘informal patient’. He was an autistic adult. He had been recommended for release by the Mental Health Review Tribunal, and it was decided that he should be released. He was detained further . .
At Admn – HL v United Kingdom ECHR 10-Sep-2002
(Admissibility) Whether a detention amounts to a deprivation of liberty depends upon all the facts and circumstances of the particular case . .
At Admn – L v United Kingdom ECHR 5-Oct-2004
The claimant had suffered mental illness and threatened to hurt himself. He was taken into hospital as a voluntary patient, but in effect detained compulsorily. He lacked capacity to consent to medical treatment.
Held: The holding of a patient . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.
Health, Torts – Other
Updated: 03 January 2022; Ref: scu.137795