Mental health—Court of Protection—Practice

The Court of Protection gave guidance on the media’s application for permission to attend Court of Protection proceedings.

Guy Vassall-Adams (instructed by the Solicitors for Independent Newspapers) for the media. Hilton Harrop-Griffiths (instructed by Hillingdon Legal Services) for the authority. Aswini Weereratne (instructed by Miles & Partners) for S by the Official Solicitor. Amanda Weston (instructed by Conroys Solicitors) for M.

The proceedings concerned SN. He was aged 20 and had autistic spectrum disorder and severe learning disabilities. He lived with his father, MN. He had been placed with the local authority between December 2009 and December 2010. He was initially placed there for a period of a few days respite. MN and the authority disagreed about SN’s return home, the authority considering that it was not in his interests. NM and the official solicitor, on behalf of SN, commenced proceedings against the authority seeking declarations that the refusal