Source: https://www.no5.com/people/barristers/laura-davidson/international-human-rights/
Timestamp: 2020-05-25 03:48:16
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Viewing: International Human Rights for Laura Davidson
Please Select a CV to View General Profile Court of Protection International Human Rights Public Law
Much of Laura’s work involves human rights, which was the focus of her doctoral studies at Cambridge. Questions relating to Article 8 governing the right to privacy, autonomy and bodily integrity frequently arise in her cases, and (more rarely) Article 3 which protects against torture, inhuman and degrading punishment or treatment. For example, she brought a successful damages claim on behalf of an informal patient subjected to unlawful restraint and forcible injection whilst he visited friends on a hospital ward. Matters relating to Article 2 governing the right to life may also arise in the medical treatment cases and health-related inquest work which Laura undertakes. For example, she successfully challenged the failure of a London Trust to fund cancer treatment for an elderly patient, resulting in a U-turn and the provision of treatment.
A large part of Laura’s practice involves breaches of Article 5 of the European Convention on Human Rights. She receives regular instructions in habeas corpus applications, largely arising out of defects in detention procedure contrary to the requirements of the Mental Health Act 1983. She also has expertise in cases resisting the disclosure of medical records and Data Protection Act cases. Her Court of Protection practice frequently involves questions relating to Article 5 in relation to the Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards (‘DOLS’) under the Mental Capacity Act 2005.
Having written a public law thesis on international mutual cooperation as part of her LLM at the University of Cambridge, Laura subsequently co-authored a book on the topic (Jones on Extradition and Mutual Assistance (London: Sweet and Maxwell), Alun Jones (ed.) (2001) (Part C, chapters 18 and 19). She now advises regularly on international mutual assistance in civil matters, particularly in the realm of forced marriages and the anticipated removal of vulnerable adults from the jurisdiction. Where incapacitated adults have already been removed from the jurisdiction, she advises on the complex network of legislation, treaties, Conventions and international cooperation necessary to secure their return home, including the potential use of worldwide asset freezing orders. Given her expertise in this area, Laura is one of the Commonwealth Secretariat’s legal experts on its roster for the Commonwealth Fund for Technical Co-operation. She is a Consultant for the government of Rwanda, and in 2013 spent seven months drafting the country’s first mental health law.
“Well regarded in the market, and noted for her academic excellence in human rights and mental health law. She is adept at handling serious medical treatment cases and disputes around the withdrawal of life-sustaining treatments. She’s a doughty fighter.”
“A popular junior with a strong academic grounding in mental health law and human rights. She is frequently instructed in Court of Protection work by health trusts, local authorities and the Official Solicitor. Extremely good. She is an effective, assertive advocate who is always entirely up to speed with the issues and knows how to get the result for her client.”
“Highly valued for both her strong commitment to cases and her academic background. It is difficult to find someone as grounded as Laura in mental capacity and mental health law, or as practical or positive. She is incredibly hard-working, dedicated and entirely approachable. She is very energetic and will go the extra mile.”
“An extremely confident advocate who is endlessly energetic. A tough opponent who fights hard for her client.”
“Laura Davidson is a mental health and human rights expert. Sources commend her work for local authorities, and she also acts for trusts, individuals and the Official Solicitor. Capable and feisty, you are pleased when she is on your side, said one instructing solicitor.”
“Laura Davidson is praised for the ‘technical precision’ she applies to her instructions, her warm nature and the ‘tenacity’ with which she approaches every aspect of her work. She is a noted authority on mental health and capacity legislation.”
“COVID-19 - Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards” NLJ (online)
Case Note and Comment on BP, Surrey County Council and RP [2020] EWCOP 17, which considered the ramifications of the current Coronavirus pandemic for care home residents lawfully deprived of their liberty under the DoLS, and assessed BP’s best interests in terms of residence where his rights under Article 8 were being severely curtailed.
https://www.newlawjournal.co.uk/content/covid-19-deprivation-of-liberty-safeguards
‘Duty of care: Inadequate safety nets’
NLJ, 168(7849): 11-12, (a critique of the ECtHR’s recent failures in Fernandes de Oliveira v Portugal (2019) ECHR 106 to (1) apply relevant case law establishing the state’s duty to take basic precautions to protect life pursuant to Article 2 of the ECHR, and (2) give reasons for distinguishing between different types of patients).
‘Patients at risk: revisiting the extent of public bodies’ duties’, SJ (online)
Article on Fernandes de Oliveira v Portugal (No.78103/14, 31 January 2019) which has finally established that the right to life under Article 2 of the ECHR applies to voluntary and involuntary psychiatric patients alike.
https://www.no5.com/media/publications/patients-at-risk-revisiting-the-extent-of-public-bodies-duties/
“Capacity to consent to or refuse psychiatric treatment: An analysis of South African and British law”, South African Journal of Human Rights, Vol.32, Issue 3, pp.457-489
Article comparing UK and South African compliance with international human rights obligations in terms of the mental capacity of detained psychiatric patients.
“The experiences of survivors and trauma counselling service providers in northern Uganda: Implications for mental health policy and legislation”
Davidson L., Liebling H., Akello, G.F. and Ochola, G., International Journal of Law and Psychiatry, Vol.49, Part A, pp.84-92 (Article considering the new Ugandan mental health Bill and the implications for mental health policy in the context of empirical research on psychological therapy for post-traumatic stress disorder in Uganda).
“Survivors and service providers”
Experiences of trauma counselling services in northern Uganda: Implications for Mental Health Policy and Legislation’, Davidson L., Libelling H., Akello, G.F and Ochola, G, International Journal of Law and Society.
“Fact-finding hearings in the health and social context”
(S.J. Vol.160, No.7, (article considering the law on when fact-finding is necessary in Court of Protection proceedings and in those before a First-tier Tribunal (Mental Health) in the light of In the Matter of AG [2015] EWCOP 78 and AM v Partnerships in Care Limited and Secretary of State for Justice (2015) UKUT 659 (AAC)).
“False Imprisonment Part 1: A Right to Compensation”, S.J. Vol. 159, No.23
Article on the implications of Lee Bostridge v Oxleas NHS Foundation Trust [2015] EWCA Civ 79 for future claims for damages flowing from Article 5 of the ECHR (Part 2 in print on 14th July 2015)
“False Imprisonment Part 2: Are our rights stronger in Europe?”, S.J. Vol. 159, No.27
Second part of article on the implications of Lee Bostridge v Oxleas NHS Foundation Trust [2015] EWCA Civ 79 for future claims for damages based on Article 5 of the ECHR. Read it here with kind permission from the Solcitors Journal.
“Fundamental Right to Liberty”, S.J. Vol. 159, No.22
Case note and comment on Rochdale MBC v KW and Others [2015] EWCOP 13.
“Improvements to National Health Policy: Mental Health, Mental Health Bill, Legislation and Justice”
Liebling, H., Davidson, L., Akello, F.G., and Ochola, G. (2014) African Journal of Traumatic Stress 3(2), 55-64.
“Best interests: How the Supreme Court restored the law for incapacitated patients”, S.J.
Article on Aintree University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust v James [2013] UKSC 67 and the concepts of futility and intolerability in medical treatment cases.
“Deprivation of liberty: current approach leaves vulnerable clients with limited protection”, S.J.
Article on the new concept of comparator introduced into English law by Cheshire West and Chester Council v P [2011] EWCA 1257 (Part II).
“Turning Back the Clock”, S.J. Vol. 156, No.22
Article examining recent case law on deprivation of liberty and whether the familiar dicta of the case of Engel v Netherlands (1976) 1 EHRR 647 should have been applied (Part I).
“Finding Fault”, S.J. Vol. 154, No.33, pp.13-14
Article on the ground-breaking judicial review case, R v Hackney London Borough Council and East London NHS Foundation Trust and the Secretary of State for Health, ex parte TTM [2010] EWHC 1349 (Admin) QBD.
“Covert medication”, 158 NLJ, pp.1066-1068
Article on the covert medication of detained patients.
“PVS Patients and Medical Welfare Applications: Wakening the Dead”, Counsel, pp.2-4
Article on recent developments likely to affect High Court applications for the withdrawal of treatment from patients in a permanent vegetative state.
“Human rights v. public protection – English mental health law in crisis?”, International Journal of Law and Psychiatry, 25(5) (2002), 491-515
Article exploring the tension between the welfarist approach and the government’s agenda.
“Mental Health Law and the Human Rights Act 1998”
Garwood-Gowers, et al (eds.) (2001), Healthcare Law and Practice, The Impact of the Human Rights Act 1998 (London: Cavendish) (Chapters 11 and 12).
“Quashing convictions for pre-trial abuse of process: breaching public international law and human rights”
Cambridge Law Journal (1999), 58(3), 466-468 (Case Note and Comment on the Court of Appeal decision in R. v. Mullen (No. 2) [1999] 3 W.L.R. 777).
Advising Mentally Disordered Offenders: A Practical Guide, D. Postgate and C. Taylor
(Law Soc. Publishing), Crim. L.R. 2000, June, 514-515 (Book Review).
“Maliciously procuring the issue and execution of a search warrant: easier access to a remedy?”
Cambridge Law Journal (1998), 57(2), 238-240 (Case Note and Comment on the Privy Council decision Gibbs v. Rea [1998] 3 W.L.R. 72 in which the state conspired in unlawful conduct to secure a criminal’s return to the jurisdiction).
How far does the state's duty of care extend in protecting detained patients from self-harm?...