Court of Protection Consultation

The Government has published a consultation paper on proposals that some straightforward applications to the Court of Protection should be delegated to authorised court of protection officers. At present, all applications to the court of protection have to be decided by a judge, even when the issue involved is straightforward and non-contentious. Examples are an undisputed application to become a “property and affairs deputy” or health and welfare deputy.

Court of Protection judges will continue to take all decisions which relate to health and welfare issues. However some types of application for property and affairs deputyships (which form a large proportion of the court’s work) could be dealt with by authorised court officers. This would free up judicial time to focus on the more difficult and sensitive issues the Court of Protection has to deal with, and reduce the time it takes to deal with routine matters, thereby improving the service to users. The consultation runs until 20 September 2011. Copies have been placed in the House of Commons and Lords Libraries, and the paper is also available on the Ministry of Justice website at: www.justice.gov.uk/consultations/decisions-court-protection.htm