bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
FORENSIC AND LAW ENFORCEMENT EXPERIENCE OF APLYING OF MEDICAL CRITERIA OF BODIES INJURIES IN MOSCOW REGION 2007–2014
Authors: Klevno V. A. , Simonova I. S.
Published: December 2015

In this article summarized forensic and law enforcement experience of applying of medical criteria of bodies’ injuries in Moscow Region. Statistical data about forensic medical expertise’s, numeric data about registered crimes (aa. 111 (p. 1–3), 112, 115, 116 and 264 (p. 1–2) of Criminal Code) and administrative offences, responsibility for committing according aa. 12.24 and 12.30 (p.2) of the Code of Administrative Offences.Also, this article contains statistical data about quantity of persons, convicted for offenses (crimes and administrative offences), with involving applying certain degree of bodies’ injuries.
Teaching Law And Educating Lawyers: Closing The Gap Through Multidisciplinary Experiential Learning
Authors: Lerner Alan , Talati Erin
Published: December 2015

Interdisciplinary legal education found its roots nearly a century ago, but recently there has been a renewed trend both in the literature and in practice to increase interdisciplinary opportunities in clinical and scholarly activities. In the classroom, proponents have argued that interdisciplinary education is essential to understanding the cultural and social contexts in which legal conflicts arise. Additionally, scholars praise the interdisciplinary model – in both teaching and practice – for its tendency to generate a higher level of thinking from those considering problems from diverse viewpoints. The use of interdisciplinary models also promotes mutual respect between professionals from different disciplines, a working knowledge of the domain of another discipline, enhanced communication through learning both the mechanisms and vocabulary of other professions, and increased understanding another discipline’s “rules, beliefs, and ethical principles.” Finally, creating an interdisciplinary framework can enhance the efficacy of the lawyer’s problem solving efforts through providing a means by which goals, strategies, and unique insights of different “helping professions” can be united in pursuit of a common purpose.

The value that interdisciplinary approaches offer is often sharply countered by the challenges it creates. The most common challenges are those created by perceived or actual role boundaries within individual professions and the process of professional socialization that occurs during traditional legal training. Although this first criticism is challenging, it is not impossible to overcome. The second barrier to productive interdisciplinary work is also mutable, and reversing a socialization process that disfavors interdisciplinary experiences should therefore be a primary focus of legal educators. This paper proposes that  interdisciplinary advocacy for children involved in the child welfare system provides an intense experiential learning process, which engages students in a mutually dependent relationship with students from other disciplines and promotes long-term appreciation and facility for interdisciplinary work. It describes this experience in the context of one such clinic, providing a model for the development of future interdisciplinary endeavors.
Clinical legal education and Indigenous legal education: what’s the connection?
Authors: Cody Anna , Green Sue
Published: December 2015

In this article we will examine some of the steps that UNSW law school has taken to address Indigenous disadvantage in, and exclusion from, legal education. The article focuses on the role of clinical legal education within Indigenous legal education. Two concrete examples will be discussed: a clinical subject specifically designed for 1st year Indigenous students and a class given by an Indigenous academic for later year law students within the general clinical legal education courses. The first is discussed to demonstrate how clinical legal education can improve the experience of Indigenous students within law schools. The second example highlights the challenges of attempting to “Aboriginalise” the curriculum of law courses.
Unity in Adversity: Reflections on the Clinical Movement in South Africa
Authors: De Klerk Willem
Published: December 2015

Not long after I joined the Wits Law Clinic in January of 1997, I was seconded by our Director to attend a workshop hosted by Rhodes University Law Clinic in Grahamstown. The workshop was to be presented by the Association of University Legal Aid Institutions, or AULAI as it is commonly known. As a new recruit to our law clinic I barely knew of the existence of other university law clinics in South Africa, let alone a national association of law clinics. No-one at our clinic bothered to inform me what the workshop was all about, and I, being only concerned really with the adventure of travelling to a beautiful part of the Eastern Cape, never bothered to ask. So, I set off to Grahamstown in blissful ignorance of the events that were to follow, events that, as it turned out, shaped my involvement with law clinics in South Africa.
‘Bridging the Academic/Vocational Divide: the Creation of a Law Clinic in an Academic Law School’
Authors: Dignan Frank
Published: December 2015

In January 2009 I joined the Law School at the University of Hull. My main responsibility has been the establishment and development of a public serving Law Clinic providing free, confidential and independent legal advice to the local community. Clinic became operational from January 2010 and will be offered as an assessed module as part of the LLB degree, from September 2010.
Legal Clinics and Professional Skills Development in Nigeria
Authors: Mokidi S. K. , Agbebaku C. A.
Published: December 2015

The educational sector has a direct bearing on the social, economic, political and scientific development of a nation hence there have been increased anxieties, in recent times, about the deteriorating state of Nigeria’s educational system. The growing concerns stem from the quality of our university graduates, which has become less than satisfactory and the law graduates are no exception. Thus there is a growing demand for reforms not only in the training of lawyers but of the entire educational system in Nigeria.

The declining professional skills of lawyers has taken an alarming trend over the last decade with the result that, clients most often do not get value for money paid for legal services and society does not also feel the much needed impact of lawyers. The present situation is attributed to a number of factors ranging from inadequate curriculum, inadequate manpower and training facilities both in the universities and the Nigerian Law School, to unfavourable government educational policies.
Practical Nous as the Aim of Legal Education?
Authors: Ferris Graham , Johnson Nick
Published: December 2015

There has been an implicit assumption that legal education should be about exposition and evaluation, and should reward facility in exposition and theoretical awareness. This theoretically based assumption generates a theory-induced blindness. Specifically, it obscures the dynamic relationship between law and legal practice, despite it being a familiar aspect of the world. The lawyer as rule entrepreneur is lost sight of. One alternative assumption about legal education would be that law is a game like activity; and legal education should be directed towards promoting those qualities that would enhance performance in this game. In this approach to legal education it would be practical nous that would be sought and rewarded, and such qualities as facility in exposition and theoretical awareness would receive recognition merely as qualities that can be ancillary to and elements of practical nous. Doctrinal legal education naturally pulls towards the first theory, and clinical legal education naturally pulls towards the second. We argue for a clearer awareness of the role of rule entrepreneurship in clinical programmes and in legal education generally.
Establishing An International Human Rights Clinic in the New Zealand Context
Authors: Gledhill Kris
Published: December 2015

Whilst clinical programmes are an established and core feature of legal education in the USA, and play a significant role in various other jurisdictions, they are essentially absent from New Zealand. The existence of a marked difference is itself a reason to investigate whether experiential learning should have a place in the curriculum of New Zealand’s law schools. This is done by examining briefly the growth of clinical legal education in order to illuminate its purpose; and then considering whether structural differences mean that this does not resonate as much in New Zealand. It is suggested that there are indeed some reasons for caution, in particular that there is a concern around having a two-tier system of legal provision. But it is also suggested that an international human rights clinic could surmount these reasons for caution; and a prospective design for such a programme is developed and its ability to secure the needs of students and clients is assessed.
Empowering The Underprivileged: The Social Justice Mission For Clinical Legal Education In India
Authors: Prosun Sarker Shuvro
Published: December 2015

The 1960s and 1970s were an important time in the history of legal education in India, when the legal aid movement and various legal aid committees’ reports started to draw attention to the importance of experiential learning, or learning on the job, in legal education. The main aim of involving law students in the national legal aid movement was to make them feel more responsible for the considerable part of the Indian population who, because of their socio-economic status, couldn’t access justice. The history of how India’s clinical programs were introduced has a lot in common with the history of clinical programs in other parts of the world. There was a desire to create a pool of lawyers, who would serve as soldiers in the fight for social justice for underprivileged groups in the country.

While some prestigious universities started their clinical programs in the 1970s, most of the regulators of legal education took a long time to include clinical papers in the curriculum. In 1997 the Bar Council of India introduced four practical papers in the curriculum. The spirit of public service, and the widespread poverty in a country, has always been central to the push for clinical programs everywhere. But in India, the legal aid committees’ and other statutory bodies’ reports calling for clinical programs to support social justice, were always ignored. The National Knowledge Commission’s working group on legal education specifically mentioned the need to introduce students to issues relating to poverty, social change and social exclusion, through clinical legal education.

After the introductory section, the second section discusses the introduction of clinical programs with their roots in the search for social justice in the United States and India. The third section discusses the continuous deliberation by various bodies, commissions and committees about the need to introduce clinical programs with a social justice perspective in India. The fourth section discusses the social justice-based clinical programs in China and South Africa. This section tries to highlight some of the clinical models focused on serving underprivileged groups, that have been introduced and implemented in these two countries and which ~ after local modifications ~ could serve as a template for programs in Indian law schools. The fifth section tries to search for clinical models best suited to India with reference to clinical programs in China and South Africa. Several examples of clinical activities in a few Indian law schools have been highlighted in this chapter to explain these models’ effectiveness and suitability for Indian circumstances. The sixth section sets out some suggestions for law schools and stakeholders of legal education in India as to how to further the country’s social justice mission of clinical legal education.
Masters of our Destiny – The Integration of law clinic into post graduate Masters provision
Authors: Clubb Karen
Published: December 2015

Increasingly students are looking to their undergraduate law degrees to do more than provide them with a qualification which acts a ‘stepping stone’ to further legal vocational training. The provision of law degrees across the sector includes both qualifying and non-qualifying degrees where the study of law is combined with other subjects, vocational and non-vocational. Not all students who obtain a qualifying law degree will continue to the vocational stage of training, but all degrees need to address the employability agenda, and law students in particular need to consider future career aspirations early on in their degree.

Clinical legal education as a teaching methodology has received considerable academic attention for the benefits student engagement can yield in enhancing the overall student learning experience This paper briefly reviews the benefits of undergraduate clinical legal education (CLE) and considers the benefits of developing this at post graduate level in a Masters in Law programme This paper considers the distinction between the two approaches and the need for a different approach to the provision of a law clinic module within a postgraduate law Masters programme, identifying a possible model of delivery.

The paper further presents some of the potential challenges in developing and maintaining this provision over time and attempts to offer some insight into how these have been considered in the development of a postgraduate law clinic module at the University of Derby.
Learning law by doing law in the UK
Authors: Grimes Richard
Published: December 2015

Using hands-on experience as a basis for learning has long been a feature of programmes in higher and further education in the UK. Medics, scientists, linguists, mechanics and beauty therapists, to name a few, are exposed to real life situations in which the opportunity exists for theory and practice to be studied and applied.
Delivering legal education through an integrated problem-based learning model – the nuts and bolts
Authors: Grimes Richard
Published: December 2015

Judging by the number of enquiries received, visits made and conference discussions wide interest has been shown by academics and students alike in the form and content of legal education at the York Law School (YLS). YLS has, since its inception, used a problem-based learning model for study across all foundation and most, if not all, optional modules and at both undergraduate (LLB) and postgraduate (LLM) levels. Following repeated requests to explain how PBL works in an integrated legal education context this contribution sets out to describe exactly how these programmes are structured and will hopefully promote further discussion on the rationale behind and effectiveness of such an approach to study
What does legal ethics teaching gain, if anything, from including a clinical component?
Authors: Cody Anna
Published: December 2015

In some law schools legal ethics have been taught very conservatively, focussed on the law of lawyering with a heavy emphasis on ‘professional rules’ and how to ensure solicitors and barristers behave within the professional rules. Others however have proposed different models for thinking about lawyering, lawyers’ ethical duties and the role of lawyers within the legal system.  In this article, legal ethics, ethical decision making and values are explored.  I ask what value can be gained by including a clinical component within a standard legal ethics course even when it is a short exposure experience.  I explore the range of meanings ascribed to ethics and professional responsibility, and the connection between personal and professional identities.  Finally using three vital elements within the definition of an ethical legal professional, I evaluate whether the clinical component contributes to teaching students about how to be an ethical legal professional.  I draw from the Best Practices of Australian clinical legal education to assist with this process, and discuss some additional learnings which students gain from seeing legal practice modelled for them in a community legal centre, located within a university faculty of law.  Some of the challenges of developing an effective clinical component are explored such as the importance of training volunteer lawyer supervisors and how to assess the learning by students.   The ways of sharing the individual learning across the student cohort is also a further challenge.
Clinic is the Basis for a Complete Legal Education: Quality Assurance, Learning Outcomes and the Clinical Method
Authors: Gold Neil
Published: December 2015

Clinic is the basis for a complete legal education. The time has come to stop treating clinic as a marginal, alternative approach to learning some but not all things requisite for a sound legal education aimed at producing capable practitioners.  It is a powerfully effective, experiential and varied, comprehensive approach to the structure and contents of a legal education. I will argue that given a full interpretation of the term “Clinical Legal Education” (CLE), CLE in its many forms can serve as the model for a legal education. Also, in this paper I will examine the relationship between the learning outcomes we have for a legal education and the learning methods characteristic of a variety of forms of clinical legal education. At another time it will be useful to show how assessment of learning through clinic suits the full range of outcomes as well. There is a discussion of the meaning of the term Clinical Legal Education, as I use it, in Section 6. Some readers may wish to come back to the beginning after reading the section entitled “What is clinical legal education?”.
A Systematic Review of Literature on Clinical Legal Education: A Tool for Researchers in Responding to an Explosion of Clinical Scholarship
Authors: Mkwebu Tribe
Published: December 2015

Identifying where my research, on influential factors to consider in the establishment and sustainability of clinical legal education programmes, fitted within the existing clinical scholarship was by no means an easy task hence the decision to undertake a systematic review of literature. The current explosion of clinical scholarship seem to have been influenced by Jerome Frank’s call for reform in legal education when in 1933, he asked “Why not a Clinical-Lawyer School?” (Frank, 1933) A constant construction of clinical scholarship is critical in understanding many of the facets of clinical legal education so as to sustain clinical programmes and foster new ones. Yet a ‘boom’ in literature scares the life out of many a scholar and novice researchers when attempting to find articles that specifically answer research questions. This paper therefore offers guidance in conducting a systematic literature review on clinical legal education through the use of a Grounded Theory methodology. Through a five- stage process that involved the formulation of a research question and protocol; the use of systematic methods to identify, select and critically appraise relevant journal articles, this paper outlines each formal methodological step in identifying and selecting journal articles for inclusion in answering the following research question: [What factors are influential in the establishment and sustainability of clinical legal education programmes in Zimbabwe?]. The numbers of selected articles were presented in a PRISMA flow diagram. A final selection of 91 journal articles was juxtaposed; integrated and tabulated to produce an overarching explanation which attempts to account for the range of findings (Mays et al., 2005a) of the review. Through the process of synthesis, I endeavoured to contribute significant added value to my review through an examination of the composite evidence base for similarities of the articles, whether related to the homogeneity or indeed their relatedness of findings. The type of epistemology I favour for my research has also been influenced (Carter and Little, 2007) partly by the methods and findings undertaken in this review. The paper concludes by suggesting that a systematic review method, rather than a narrative review, should be a researcher’s tool in responding to an explosion of clinical scholarship.

 

 

Keywords – Boolean logic; Boolean operators; database selection; record keeping; clinical legal education; systematic review of literature; narrative review; Zimbabwe
The Tyranny of Distance: Clinical Legal Education in ‘The Bush’
Authors: Giddings Jeff , Hook Barbara
Published: December 2015

This paper analyses the challenges faced by clients, students and teachers involved in a clinical program which uses new technology to deliver legal services in remote areas of Southern Queensland, Australia. A range of novel issues were addressed by Griffith University Law School, Learning Network Queensland and Caxton Legal Centre in their partnership development and delivery of this clinical program which involves the use of audio-graphics conferencing to enable students to provide legal advice and assistance to people hundreds of kilometres away. The ‘Advanced Family Law-Clinic’ program commenced in July 1999 with financial support from the Federal Attorney-General’s Department. The paper considers the range of issues which arose in development of the program.
Student Law Office Conference: A Platform for Student Engagement with Clinical Legal Education?
Authors: Lynn Mark
Published: December 2015

I was one of a group of students from Northumbria University who organised the first student conference on clinical legal education on Saturday 4th December 2004. This short article is intended to explain why we thought such a conference was necessary and whether it was worthwhile.
Four Years of a Romanian Juridical Clinic 1998 – 2002
Authors: Gidro Romulus , Rebreanu Veronica
Published: December 2015

Our target and mission as law teachers is to do our best in order to give the society well prepared jurists. How can we do that? By combining the theoretical disciplines with a practical approach, such as Clinical courses. Among other courses, as Mr. Stuckey was saying, “clinical education courses offer law students their first opportunities to discover firsthand how difficult is to be a professional lawyer”.

Based on our five years of experience, we would add that in the Romanian system of law Clinical education also shows how difficult it is to be a judge or a prosecutor.

For sure, most of the readers of this article, if not all of them, already know what Juridical Clinic means and how is it organized and functioning in the American and British, as well law faculties in other countries. The authors’ intention is to present a Romanian Juridical Clinic, the way it has been functioning so far, the conditions we were offered when we set it up, what we achieved, the difficulties we were faced with, our reasons to be satisfied of what we have done, our regrets for what we couldn’t do, leaving to the generation to come the continuation of our work.
Seeing Things As We Are. Emotional Intelligence and Clinical Legal Education
Authors: James Colin
Published: December 2015

This paper considers the relevance of emotional intelligence for the cognitively dominated law school. I describe the crisis in the American legal profession and suggest how those problems are likely to be replicated in Australia. I examine what little we know about the impact of law schools on students and find the extant research is not encouraging. The paper considers how clinical legal education provides the best opportunities to engage with students on levels that could make a difference to their inner wellbeing in practice. I then look briefly at our developing understanding of emotional intelligence and its relevance in clinical legal education. The last part considers specific opportunities already in many clinical programs for encouraging students to develop their emotional capacities.
Reflection and assessment in clinical legal education: Do you see what I see?
Authors: Ledvinka Georgina
Published: December 2015

This paper discusses issues surrounding reflection, and assessment of reflection, in clinical legal education. The first section of the paper examines what reflection is and why it plays an important role in learning. It considers the educational theory underlying reflection and how this can help to inform the way in which reflection is employed in individual programmes. Suggestions are noted for how to encourage students to reflect. There is discussion of issues concerning assessment of reflection including whether it is acceptable to assess reflection at all, and if so, how fair and consistent assessment might be achieved given its inherently subjective nature.

The second section of the paper discusses a case study on assessment of reflective work within the clinical law programme at Northumbria University. The study considers the implications of current assessment methods and whether they achieve acceptable levels of consistency between markers.
Learning Lessons: Using Inquiries for Change
Authors: Downham Gillian , Lingham Richard
Published: December 2015

This article is not about the procedure of inquiry investigation, nor is it about the content of the inquiry report or recommendations. Our focus here is on the post-inquiry process – what happens after an inquiry’s recommendations are made.
The First Flight of the Fledgling: the Upper Tribunal’s Substantive Debut
Authors: Gledhill Kris
Published: December 2015

Dorset Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust v MH
[2009] UKUT 4 (AAC)
“She took no reasoning”: Enticing Someone into a Public Place
Authors: Hewitt David
Published: December 2015

McMillan v Crown Prosecution Service
[2008] EWHC 1457 (Admin)
Lost in a Legal Maze: Community Care Law and People with Mental Health Problems: The Law Commission’s Review of Adult Social Care Law
Authors: Spencer-Lane Tim
Published: December 2015

In June 2008, the Law Commission published its Tenth Programme of Law Reform, which includes a project to review adult social care law in England and Wales. Adult social care impacts on a wide range of individuals, including older people, people with learning disabilities, physically disabled people, people with mental health problems and carers. This article considers the particular problems and challenges that community care law presents for people with mental health problems and how the Law Commission’s review proposes to address this.
The treatment of mentally disordered offenders under capacity-based mental health legislation
Authors: Buchanan Alec
Published: December 2015

I agree that someone’s lack of mental capacity, or their inability to make proper choices, as I would prefer, has an intuitive moral force as a criterion for coercing them to accept care. The authors of “A Model Law Fusing Incapacity and Mental Health Legislation” (henceforth AML) are right also, I think, when they suggest that this moral force is reflected in the law’s widespread use of “choice based” criteria to
determine when and to what degree a medical patient’s stated wishes will be respected. I also agree that bad legislation can contribute to the stigmatization of the mentally ill.

As AML points out, mental health legislation has to incorporate many principles, some of which are in tension with each other. AML uses, as an example, the balance that has to be achieved between maximizing patient autonomy, on the one hand, and ensuring their safety and that of others, on the other. An essential principle in mental health legislation is that mentally disordered offenders need treatment and that the law should seek to ensure that they get it. As would be the case for any law, other principles will need to be respected too; but this one seems crucial. I am not convinced that the need to ensure treatment receives sufficient attention in AML. I also have some concerns over the details of what is proposed.
Balancing autonomy and risk: the Scottish approach
Authors: Atkinson Jacqueline M , Patrick Hilary J
Published: December 2015

The impact of compulsory measures of medical treatment for mental disorders have for some time interested medical and legal commentators, possibly because of the complex ethical issues these raise. In a context where stigma and discrimination are realities for many of those who use mental health services some people argue that holistic legislation, which places treatment for mental disorder within amore general framework of incapacity law, could reduce the stigma of mental ill health. Szmukler, Daw and Dawson have made an interesting attempt to show how such a law might look inpractice. They have built on and reflected the work of the Bamford Committee in Northern Ireland, which, while recommending a single legislative basis for mental health and incapacity law, fell short ofproducing a draft bill.

In looking at these proposals from a Scottish perspective, we have resisted the temptation to focus on points of detail and have attempted to discuss certain themes. In particular, we have looked at how Scotland has introduced a capacity-based threshold for mental health law and how this compares with Szmukler et al’s proposed approach.
Benevolent Paternalism or a Clash of Values: Motherhood and Refusal of Medical Treatment in Ireland
Authors: Wilson Kay , Weller Penelope
Published: December 2015

Fitzpatrick v. K [2008] IEHC 104 (25 April 2008) (H.Ct) (Ir.)
Department of Health Review of Research on the Mental Health Act 1983
Authors: Humphreys Martin , Smith Helen
Published: December 2015

At the same time that the Government published the Report of the Expert Committee on the Review of the Mental Health Act 1983 and the accompanying consultation document, the Department of Health produced a systematic review of research relating to the Mental Health Act 1983. This was written jointly by a team made up of researchers and senior academics from King’s College School of Medicine and Dentistry, St George’s Hospital Medical School and the Institute of Psychiatry in London. It represents a major undertaking and will be an invaluable tool, particularly for those involved in research into mental health law and allied legislation, both in the UK and further afield, but also anyone involved in the care of detained patients. It is strengthened greatly by the fact that it was undertaken in a structured, rigorous and scientific manner and involved those with not only a formidable academic background, but also clinical experience in the use of the Act itself.

The review is comprehensive, both in form and content. The authors' stated aims to summarise the available current data and from that, determine how the Act has been used, and describe which parts are effective or otherwise, has generally been achieved.
Something less than ready access to the courts: Section 139 & Local Authorities
Authors: Hewitt David
Published: December 2015

Psychiatric patients who wish to bring legal proceedings against those responsible for their detention or treatment can face an obstacle of which better-favoured litigants are free: because of a provision contained in section 139 of the Mental Health Act 1983 they will often have to obtain the prior leave of the High Court.

This paper will consider the origins of that provision. It will then focus on two of its key elements - the requirement for leave itself and the exceptions to it - and will analyse their impact upon subsequent caselaw and upon current legal practice.

In so doing, this paper will describe an anomaly which continues to bedevil intending claimants, and will assess the extent to which it is attributable to the legal and political events of a generation ago, and to a legislative impulse which is even more keenly felt today.
Treatment for Mental Disorder - another step backwards?
Authors: Foster Simon
Published: December 2015

The case concerns the right of a psychiatric patient to choose to die by refusing intervention from the hospital. The Court considered the treatment provisions of Part IV of the Mental Health Act, capacity at common law and the legitimate interests of society in preserving life. However the notoriety of Mr Brady, and his own personality, meant that underlying the judgment were considerations of public policy as much as legal analysis.
Foreword
Authors: Horne John
Published: December 2015

In the third week of June, the Law Society and the Royal College of Psychiatrists jointly hosted a very well attended two-day conference on reform of mental health law (day one) and the law relating to mental incapacity (day two), entitled ‘Make up your mind’. What emerged both from the presentations and from questions and comments ‘from the floor’, was widespread and strong opposition to many of the mental health legislative reform proposals set out in the White Paper of December 2000, and equally widespread and strong support for long-awaited legislation in the field of mental incapacity. The following week the Draft Mental Health Bill was published.
However a Mental Incapacity Bill would still appear to be some way off.
Treatment over objection: minds, bodies and beneficence
Authors: Sarkar Sameer P. , Adshead Gwen
Published: December 2015

“The only freedom which deserves the name is that of pursuing our own good in our own way, so long as we do not attempt to deprive others of theirs or impede their efforts to obtain it. Each is the proper guardian of his own health, whether bodily or mental and spiritual”

John Stuart Mill – On Liberty1

This quote from Mill highlights an important distinction for medical ethics: a distinction between bodily and mental health. In this paper, we want to look at the ways that ethics and law have addressed this distinction, especially in relation to involuntary treatment. We will claim that both philosophy and case law appear to address involuntary treatment for physical disorders in very different ways to involuntary treatment for mental disorders; and will relate these differences in analysis to different approaches to understanding the capacity to make autonomous decisions.
Alternative Perceptions of Statutory Community Aftercare: Patient and Responsible Medical Officer Views
Authors: Riordan Sharon , Smith Helen , Humphreys Martin
Published: December 2015

The need for more effective means of caring for mentally disordered individuals in the community has been given a prominent place by the Department of Health. The inclusion of user perspectives in mental health care research, to inform and improve the development of services, has also been given a high priority and the necessity of incorporating patients’ and carers’ views has been recognised by the Department of Health in the National Service Framework for Mental Health published in 1999. Studies incorporating both the service user and professional viewpoints of statutory community care have been relatively sparse. This study, looking at the process of conditional discharge of restricted hospital order patients sought the views on the benefits, deficits and recommendations for change from those people providing and receiving statutory community aftercare. The findings may assist in any future review of the Mental Health Act, policy development and in the planning and delivery of psychiatric services to other groups of severely mentally ill people.
Psychiatric evidence and mandatory disposal: Article 5 compliance?
Authors: Kerrigan Kevin
Published: December 2015

This Article considers the position of defendants charged with murder who are found to be unfit to plead or insane at the time of the offence. If the court is satisfied that the defendant did the act charged as murder then the judge has no option but to impose a hospital order with restrictions. This Article examines the statutory requirements for medical evidence prior to a finding of unfitness or insanity and asks whether this satisfies the requirements of Article 5 of the European Convention on Human Rights. It concludes that there is no obvious justification for requiring defendants to be sent to hospital in the absence of a conviction where the medical evidence does not indicate that such a disposal is necessary. It follows that the current practice is likely to violate the Convention.
Mental health law and incapacity: The role of the Clinical Psychologist
Authors: Kinderman Peter
Published: December 2015

From an academic clinical psychological perspective, mental health problems are seen as existing on a number of continua with normal functioning, rather than being explicable in terms of categorical diagnoses. Clinical Psychologists use clinical case formulations in their professional practice and are critical of the validity and utility of diagnosis. Psychologists also see mental health problems as stemming from disturbances in psychological processes. In turn, these processes may be disrupted by a variety of causes – biological, social and psychological. Nevertheless, we see disturbance or impairment of such psychological processes as the central issue in mental ill health.

Mental health legislation should therefore reflect these perspectives in terms of the criteria for compulsory treatment and in terms of the procedures and practices governing care.

To an extent this is welcome in the Government’s current proposals for mental health legislative reform. A basis of compulsion based on criteria rather than diagnosis is proposed, as are care plans rather than diagnosis and treatment. Clinical psychology, however, would go further. Since there seem to be differences between ‘well’ and ‘ill’ in terms only of the degree and nature of the disturbance of psychological process and the impact on functioning, this speaks to the nature of
‘unsoundness of mind’. Clinical psychologists contend that it follows that mental health legislation is appropriate and necessary only if people are impaired in their judgement to the extent of being unable to make valid decisions for themselves.
It has been proposed that Clinical Psychologists could act as ‘clinical supervisors’ (the term which is to replace ‘responsible medical officers’). If, indeed, mental ill health is the disturbance of complex, inter-related psychological processes, it makes perfect sense to employ psychologists to coordinate care and decision-making. Clinical psychologists are ready to take their place as partners with lawyers and psychiatrists.
Medical Treatment Using the Scottish Incapacity Act: Will it Work?
Authors: Lyons Donald
Published: December 2015

The Adults with Incapacity (Scotland) Act 2000 was one of the first pieces of legislation passed by the Scottish Parliament. It is a major and significant Act that repeals and replaces many outdated pieces of legislation and brings the broad spectrum of incapacity issues under one single legislative framework. It is being implemented on a phased basis and can be viewed on the internet at http://www.scotland.gov.uk/justice/incapacity. This paper examines the major provisions of the Act, focusing on some of the difficult issues surrounding treatment and research.
Foreword
Authors: Emmett Charlottle
Published: December 2015

Over the last six months there have been two significant legislative developments in mental health law. In March, Scotland pressed ahead with its programme of mental heath law reform with the passage of the Mental Health (Care and Treatment) (Scotland) Act 2003 through the Scottish Parliament. The new Act broadly reflects the recommendations contained in the Millan Committee report New Directions (2001), and includes a new system of mental health tribunals, improved safeguards for patients receiving compulsory treatment and a range of new orders, including the controversial community treatment orders. The Act is underpinned by a comprehensive set of ethical principles promoting good practice and, with some minor exceptions, has received widespread general approval. We are pleased to be able to provide a timely review of the new Act by Hilary Patrick in this issue of the Journal.
ECT and the Human Rights Act 1998
Authors: Robinson Robert
Published: December 2015

In the current edition of the Mental Health Act Manual1, Richard Jones condemns the practice of detaining mentally incapacitated patients for the purpose of giving treatment which could lawfully be administered under common law. Jones draws particular attention to the ‘sectioning’ of compliant patients who require electroconvulsive therapy (ECT).
Conditional Discharges – ‘Discharge’ from what?
Authors: Robinson Robert
Published: December 2015

R (on the application of the Secretary of State for the Home Department) v Mental Health
Review Tribunal and PH (Interested Party) [2002] EWCA Civ 1868
Court of Appeal (19th December 2002) Keene LJ, Sir Anthony Evans and Kay LJ
The Consequences of Acting Unlawfully
Authors: Gledhill Kris
Published: December 2015

The Mental Health Act 1983 provides for detention and also for treatment which would otherwise be an assault. As such, it allows for interference with the fundamental rights to liberty and to self-determination. Particularly as it does so in the context of a branch of medicine which is often highly subjective, it is hardly surprising that litigation is occasionally resorted to by those affected who wish to challenge the legality of what is occurring to them.

The framework for this litigation has developed, spurred on in particular by the growth of public law and human rights law. As a result, mental health professionals have to be familiar not just with the court-machinery which is central to the Mental Health Act 1983 (which provides for the Mental Health Review Tribunal to determine the legality of the ongoing detention of a patient, and refers the issue of the displacement of a nearest relative to the county court) but also with the courts which deal with questions of public law (in particular the Administrative Court) and the civil litigation courts.
Capacity, Treatment and Human Rights
Authors: Bartlett Peter
Published: December 2015

R (on the application of PS) v. G (RMO) and W (SOAD) [2003] EWHC 2335 (Admin). Administrative Court (10th October 2003) Mr. Justice Silber.

This is the most recent in a series of cases regarding the scope of the Human Rights Act and compulsory treatment under the Mental Health Act 1983. In particular, this case concerns the right of a competent patient detained under section 37 of the Mental Health Act 1983 (MHA) to refuse anti-psychotic medication, and the scope of articles 3, 8 and 14 of the ECHR.
The Care Programme Approach and the end of indefinitely renewable Leave of Absence in Scotland
Authors: Atkinson Jacqueline , Garner Helen C , Gilmour W Harper , Dyer James A T
Published: December 2015

Objective

To consider the relationship between the restriction of leave of absence (LOA) to 12 months, the introduction of community care orders (CCOs) and the implementation of the Care Programme Approach (CPA).

Design

Multiple methods were employed: scrutiny of Mental Welfare Commission for Scotland (MWC) records; questionnaire to consultant psychiatrists and mental health officers (MHOs) regarding attitudes; survey of psychiatrists in respect of outcomes for named patients.

Setting

Scotland

Subjects

Two hundred and sixty six patients who were affected by the changes introduced by the Mental Health (Patients in the Community) Act 1995.

Results

Information was available for 195 (73%) patients in relation to CPA. Of these 113 (58%) were included on CPA and for 63/113 (56%) (63/195 (32%)) CPA was considered to have enhanced patient care.

Where CPA was considered useful it was because it was seen as bringing people together, enhancing the patient’s role in treatment and managing difficult situations. Negative comments regarding CPA were that it was unnecessary as the patient’s needs were straightforward, it duplicated current practices or it was too bureaucratic.

Conclusions

Despite concerns expressed by professionals about the restriction to LOA and the guidance that patients should be on CPA, for only a minority of patients was CPA described as enhancing care. Questions are raised about the low use of CCOs and CPA by psychiatrists for patients who reached the new limits of LOA.
Capacity choice and compulsion
Authors: Scott-Moncrieff Lucy
Published: December 2015

The cases of Harold C, David Bennett and John Wilkinson are discussed in the context of compulsion applied in the course of psychiatric care.
The Mental Capacity Act and the new Court of Protection
Authors: Lush Denzil
Published: December 2015

The Mental Capacity Bill was introduced in the House of Commons on 17 June 2004, and received the Royal Assent on 7 April 2005.

The Act, which has been fifteen years in gestation and involved an extensive consultation process, abolishes the existing Court of Protection, and replaces it with a new court, also to be known as the Court of Protection, which will have jurisdiction to deal with all areas of decision-making for people who lack capacity. Thus, it will combine the personal welfare and healthcare jurisdiction currently exercised by the Family Division with the property and financial decision-making jurisdiction of the present Court of Protection. The new court will be regional, served by a centralised administration office and registry.

It is important for people with disputes or problems to have access to the most effective means of resolving them, and in many cases the existing health and social welfare mechanisms, mediation or discussion will be sufficient. Although no one will be compelled to mediate before going to court, the current policy is that the new court should be the last resort for the resolution of complex or particularly sensitive cases, or when other forms of dispute resolution have been tried without success.
Mental Health Law for the 21st Century?
Authors: Kinton Mat
Published: December 2015

Lord Shaftesbury complained that it took him ‘seventeen years of labour and anxiety’ to get the Lunacy Act 1845 onto the statute books. The revision of the Mental Health Act 1983 is also turning out to be a long and difficult process, both for Government and for those that it calls ‘stakeholders’ in mental health services. What follows does not seek to examine that process, although it relies heavily on the public sessions of the Joint Committee on the draft Mental Health Bill (hereafter ‘the Joint Committee’). Nor will I attempt to summarise the Mental Health Act Commission’s public comments on the draft Bill of 2004, which are readily available. My conclusions, especially insofar as they exhibit a certain pessimism over the future direction of mental health law, are a personal view rather than one which is necessarily held by the MHAC.
A Sense of ‘Déjà Vu’ – a preliminary (and immediate) response to the Report of the Scrutiny Committee on the draft Mental Health Bill
Authors: Scott-Moncrieff Lucy
Published: December 2015

The draft Mental Health Bill was published on the 8th September 2004. In advance of publication a joint committee of both Houses of Parliament was set up to subject the draft Bill to prelegislative scrutiny and, following consultation, to recommend improvements before a final version of the Mental Health Bill is introduced in parliament.

The Committee first met on the 15th September 2004, and the report was published on the 23rd March 2005. In the intervening period the Committee considered 450 written submissions, heard oral evidence from 124 witnesses (including professionals, carers and service users) and visited three hospitals, including Broadmoor.

The Scrutiny Committee came up with 107 conclusions and recommendations, and I think it would be fair to say that if the Government accepts these, the Mental Health Bill that will be introduced to Parliament will bear very little relationship to the draft Bill published last September. On several occasions the Committee commends the very different approach taken in the Scottish Mental Health (Care and Treatment) (Scotland) Act 2003 due to be introduced in stages starting in April of this year.