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Anselm practised as a solicitor for 25 years specialising in mental health, mental capacity and human rights law. He was subsequently appointed as a Judge of the Court of Protection, England and Wales’s mental capacity court (2010-2024) and as a Coroner and Tribunal Judge (2005-2010). His significant judgments throughout this time (27) are reported in the All England Reports Digest, Community Care Law Reports, Court of Protection Law Reports, Wills and Trusts Law Reports, Mental Health Law Online and Bailii. He has a distinguished academic record (including Honorary Professor at University College London) and has published extensively in relation to his areas of expertise.

Anselm’s particular areas of interest are:

  • Human rights and mental law reform projects at home and abroad (advising governments and international organisations); 

  • All aspects of mental health law and mental capacity law;

  • International human rights law;

  • Chairing serious incident inquiries (homicides, suicides and alleged legal or human rights violations);

  • Auditing and improving the procedures of local authorities, NHS bodies and health service providers in order to ensure compliance with legal and human rights standards;

  • Lecturing and training judges, lawyers, psychiatrists and other professionals on these subjects.

Anselm has also been listed in Who's Who in America and in the Dictionary of International Biography.

He returned to practice after retiring as a judge in July 2024.

Anselm was awarded the prestigious Legal Aid Lawyer of the Year Special Award 2019 - the citation states:

‘This is only the third time the LAPG Committee has chosen to make Special Awards, which celebrate campaigners and others who make an exceptional contribution to legal aid and access to justice. The previous recipients included Baroness Doreen Lawrence OBE, who was honoured in 2012.

LAPG Special Awards are reserved for truly exceptional individuals who have achieved incredible things, often alongside of their day to day legal practice. Anselm was a mental health lawyer for 25 years, and is a true legend in this field. He now sits as a District Judge in the Court of Protection, and has been responsible for developing the law in relation to people with impaired capacity, in ways far beyond his formal status as a judge. He has made an incomparable contribution to the protection of those with mental illness. Through his 1997 book 'Mental Health Review Tribunals', he shared his expertise, and equipped many practitioners to represent the most vulnerable clients in a way that would not otherwise have been possible in what was a developing area of law. It explicitly recognised the Tribunal as a way of enforcing civil rights and had a transformative effect. Now that he is on the bench, Anselm has lost none of his approachability, and remains vigilant to ensure people can exercise their rights.’

Before being appointed as a judge, he was top ranked in successive years Chambers’ & Partners (Mental Health):

'The sage of mental health law, he is renowned for being “hugely clever” and “a highly respected academic and commentator” with “the best theoretical approach.” A heavyweight practitioner who chairs and is involved in judicial inquiries nationwide.'

‘“Academically brilliant,” whilst able to “link up law and practice,” he has chaired six NHS inquiries concerning mental health patients who have committed serious crimes. In addition to this, his “authoritative, thoughtful and reliable” textbook has … elicited praise for its “empathy for the plight of those suffering from mental health disorders.'

‘Anselm Eldergill is considered “authoritative” and has been recommended again as a leading authority on the Mental Health Act, particularly the detention, tribunal and criminal law provisions’.

Many of his Court of Protection judgments have been widely reported and are frequently referred to, such as Westminster City Council v Manuela Sykes [2014] EWHC B9 (COP):

‘This is a textbook judgment on determining best interests, with Ms Sykes properly found at the heart of the decision. It contains numerous insightful judicial comments on a wide variety of issues’ (39 Essex Street Mental Capacity Newsletter).

‘A powerful judgment concerning the liberty of Ms Manuela Sykes … This is another important decision which pushes 'best interests' decisions further towards a more subjective analysis, guided by a detailed and sympathetic analysis of the person's own (past and present) will and preferences, with a much greater acceptance of the 'dignity of risk'.  In short, this is a judgment which (I think) showcases the Court of Protection operating at the closest it can within the existing law to the 'new paradigm' of disability rights articulated in connection with the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.  It also takes the case law on 'transparency' forwards by considering what happens when the person themselves wants to waive their rights to privacy.  This decision is a very fitting tribute to a remarkable woman’ (Lucy Series, Bristol University, The Small Places).

International human rights law and mental law reform projects

Anselm was the only Commonwealth judge to be appointed as a member of the United Nations Expert Judicial Group on Capacity and Access to Justice.

Between 2004 and 2010, he was Honorary Legal Adviser to the African Regional Council for Mental Health.

He provided the human rights and mental health and capacity legal training for European judges at the European Judicial College in Trier, Germany.

His other international roles have included acting as legal adviser to the Mental Health Commission in Dublin; being appointed as the sole Legal member of the Mental Health Commission for Northern Ireland; and chairing the MHCNI’s Committee on Mental Health Law Reform.

As part of the government’s recent independent review of the Mental Health Act 1983, he chaired the Patient Safeguards and Mental Health Tribunal Legislative Reform Working Group. Prior to that he:

  • drafted the ‘DOLs’ (deprivation of liberty) forms and guidance used by the Department of Health to implement the Mental Capacity Act 2005 and provided the training for hospitals and care homes that was commissioned by the department;
  • chaired the Department of Health’s Review of National Statutory Complaints Investigations Procedures;
  • authored the papers on reform of Part III of the Mental Health Act 1983 issued by the Mental Health Act Commission’s Mentally Disordered Offenders' Committee;
  • Advised Her Majesty’s Prison Service on the procedures for discretionary lifers’ hearings;
  • Undertook the government review of the Mental Health Act Commission and formulated proposals for its reform;
  • was the solicitor member of the Mental Health Review Tribunal Rules Committee and of two Department of Health reviews of Mental Health Review Tribunal decision–making;
  • was appointed by the Department of Health to draft a Mental Health Act Forms Manual for use by the NHS and local social services authorities; and
  • was appointed by the Department of Health to draft the community treatment order ‘sectioning forms’ under the Mental Health Act 2007; 
Mental health and mental capacity law

Anselm has unusually broad and extensive experience across judicial, legal practice and  academic aspects of the law.

His standing as a practitioner is evidenced by the fact that for many years until his appointment as a judge he was elected as the President of both national mental health law professional bodies: the Mental Health Lawyers Association (2003-2010) and the Institute of Mental Health Act Practitioners (2005-2010).

As a practitioner he worked in Deptford and Kentish Town for many years, undertaking legal aid work, but also advised NHS bodies and local authorities, and trained their staff on human rights and mental health law. He was also Head of the Mental Health Law Team at Eversheds (one of the largest law firms in the world, with 40 offices across the UK, Europe, Middle East, Africa and Asia).

He was the Law Society's Chief Assessor and interviewer in relation to its Mental Health Panel and a member of that panel.

Serious inquiries (including homicides, suicides, and legal or human rights violations)

Anselm has chaired numerous homicide and other serious incident inquiries into suicides and serious patient abuse, including:

  • Inquiry into the Death of GB, CNWL, London;
  • Independent Inquiry into the Care and Treatment of AG and six other patients in Westminster  (4,000 pages of evidence. Report 137 pages + appendices);
  • Independent inquiries following two homicides in Birmingham (12,000 pages of evidence. Report 173 + xii pages);
  • Confidential Review of the X Eating Disorders Unit, London (2,600 pages of evidence. Report 94 pages);
  • Independent inquiry following  a homicide in Kent (14,000 pages of evidence. Report 283 + appendices);
  • Three independent inquiries following homicides in Hampshire (13,000 pages of evidence. Report 173 + viii pages);
  • Two independent inquiries following homicides in Berkshire (13,500 pages of evidence. Two reports: 73 + viii pages and 79 + vi pages).

Unlike many inquiry chairs, he analyses the evidence and drafts letters to witnesses and inquiry report himself, rather than relying on inquiry solicitors and counsel, which minimises the cost to the commissioning authority and reducing delays.

He pioneered the learning lessons and involving families approach to inquiries and has experience sitting as a coroner.

Public institutions

Anselm has extensive experience of auditing and improving the procedures of local authorities, NHS bodies and health service providers in order to ensure compliance with legal and human rights standards.

His work to date includes:

  • serving as a lead Mental Health Act Commissioner for many years;
  • heading the Mental Health Act Commission’s Statutory Complaints & Investigations Unit and drafting new national complaints procedures;
  • chairing the Mental Health Act Commission’s Law & Ethics Committee;
  • chairing the Central London NHS Ethics Committee;
  • acting as the sole Legal member of the Mental Health Commission for Northern Ireland;
  • advising NHS bodies as Head of the Mental Health Law Team at Eversheds;
  • advising NHS bodies and local authorities on compliance with the Human Rights Act 1998.

Anselm is a strong advocate of adhering to human rights standards for both mental health patients and residents and children. As reported on the front page of The Independent newspaper, he resigned from the National Council for Civil Liberties (now Liberty) over its links with the Paedophile Information Exchange.

Education and Appointments

Anselm studied at the London School of Economics, St Catherine’s College, Oxford and the College of Law, Chancery Lane. He has held the following positions:

  • Solicitor (admitted 1987);
  • Judge of the Court of Protection, England and Wales’s mental capacity court (2010-2024), Coroner and Tribunal Judge (2005-2010);
  • Honorary Legal Adviser to the African Regional Council for Mental Health (2004–2010);
  • Mental Health Act Commissioner (1992–1998);
  • Chairperson of the Mental Health Act Commission Law & Ethics Committee;
  • Head of Mental Health Act Commission Statutory Complaints & Investigations Unit;
  • Chairperson of the Review of National Statutory Complaints Investigations Procedures (Department of Health);
  • Chairperson of the Mental Health Act Commission’s Mentally Disordered Offenders' Committee and author of its papers on the reform of Part III of the Mental Health Act 1983;
  • Legal adviser to the Mental Health Commission in Dublin (training lawyers in the Republic of Ireland on their new mental health tribunal scheme);
  • Sole Legal member of the Mental Health Commission for Northern Ireland in Belfast;
  • Chairperson of the MHCNI’s Committee on Mental Health Law Reform;
  • Chairperson, Central London NHS Ethics Committee;
  • Chief Assessor, Interviewer and Member of the Law Society's Mental Health Panel;
  • Member of the editorial board of the Journal of Mental Health Law;
  • Member of the editorial board of Medicine, Science & the Law.

He is a recipient of the Alexander Maxwell Law Scholarship (the leading UK law scholarship for barristers and solicitors) and the David Hallett Prize for Government.

Professional training and lecturing

Anselm is an Honorary Professor at University College London. Since the 1980s he has regularly provided conference lectures, seminars and training to judges, lawyers, psychiatrists, local authorities, mental health professionals, service users and the public, both in the United Kingdom and abroad. This has included:

  • Regular lectures and training  at the English and Welsh Judicial College, the European Judicial College in Trier (training EU judges on mental health law, mental capacity law and human rights);
  • Lecturing to the Lord Chief Justice and other senior judges in Belfast;
  • Presentations on law reform with the Irish Minister, the Law Commission and the Scottish Law Commission;
  • A Chatham House conference on press reporting and the Court of Protection;
  • Invitational lectures in Dublin on Irish legislative proposals;
  • Speaking at the Sorbonne;
  • Numerous conference keynote addresses.

His main teaching and research interests are mental health and human rights legislative reform, human rights law, mental health law, mental capacity law, serious incident inquiries and the criminal law in relation to people experiencing severe mental ill-health.

Publications and seminars

The European Court of Human Rights and Mental Health (September 2024, 1301 pages)

The European Court of Human Rights and Mental Health

‘This is a magisterial work which is essential reading for those practising in the area of mental disability’ (Alex Ruck-Keene KC (Hon.), Mental Capacity Law and Policy)

Mental Health Review Tribunals — Law & Practice (Sweet & Maxwell, lxxvii, 1333 pages). Sold out and reprinted twice

‘His authoritative, thoughtful and reliable textbook has … elicited praise for its empathy for the plight of those suffering from mental health disorders’:  Chambers’ & Partners’ Guide to the Legal Profession.

Court of Protection Handbook (Co–author, LAG, London, 928pp, 2014,4th ed. 2022)

‘Professor Eldergill's chapters deserve special mention for his inclusion of tables, diagrams and charts, which aid understanding. Chapter five on ‘Is an application appropriate?' should be compulsory reading for anyone working in this area. It includes his own ‘maxims and principles' and some very useful pointers about considering evidence and its reliability’: Elder Law Journal.

Extensive publications record, at home and abroad, for publications such as The Princeton University Law Journal, Johns Hopkins University, The Journal of Forensic Psychiatry and The Guardian, including the following:

Commended by the Presidents of both the European Court of Human Rights and the European Court of Justice.

  • Compassion and the Law: A Judicial Perspective (Elder Law Journal Vol. 5 No. 4, November 2015, pp 392–398).

The published commentary on this article by Dermot Feenan and Professor Jonathan Herring, University of Oxford, states: ‘This [paper] provides a commentary on the article by District Judge Anselm Eldergill ‘Compassion and the law: a judicial perspective’ published in the previous issue of the Elder Law Journal at [2015] Eld LJ 268. Recognising the importance of Judge Eldergill’s contribution to consideration of compassion to the judicial role and law, the article has three aims; to: (1) contextualise the significance of Judge Eldergill’s contribution with wider reference to the law and associated literature; (2) develop consideration of the place of compassion as a judicial quality; and (3) analyse the current place and potential for compassion as a basis for judicial decision. The article approves Judge Eldergill’s reasoning for compassion as an ‘instrument of justice’, while also developing cautious arguments for the place of compassion in the jurisdiction and jurisprudence of both the Court of Protection and High Court.’

  • The Patient's Voice (Ed. J Young-Mason, Davis & Co, Philadelphia, 2015)
  • Psychopathy, the law and individual rights, Princeton University Law Journal, Volume III, Issue 2, Spring 1999 (abstract published in The Guardian newspaper)
  • The Best is the Enemy of the Good: Part II, Journal of Mental Health Law, December 2008; The Best is the Enemy of the Good: Part I, Journal of Mental Health Law, May 2008
  • ‘The law and individual rights’ in Personality Disorder and Serious Offending (ed. Newrith et al.), Hodder Arnold, Oxford, 2006
  • The Principles of Mental Health Legislation, Philosophy, Psychiatry and Psychology, Johns Hopkins University, 2005 
  • Is Anyone Safe? Civil Compulsion under the Draft Mental Health Bill, Journal of Mental Health Law, December 2002.
  • The Legal Structure of Mental Health Services, Journal of Mental Health Law, September 2002
  • The Mental Health Act Commission, Journal of Forensic Psychiatry, March 2002
  • Reforming Inquiries following Homicides, JMHL, October 1999
  • The legal logistics of independent inquiries: Common steps and principles for navigating through tragedy, British Journal of Health Care Management, May 1998
  • Social Exclusion and Mental Health, Mental Health Lawyers Association Occasional Paper, June 2004

Some of Anselm’s past conference presentations and articles can be downloaded here