12 Dec 24

Anselm Eldergill joins as an Associate

We are delighted to announce Anselm Eldergill has joined us as an Associate.

Anselm practised as a solicitor for 25 years specialising in mental health, mental capacity and human rights law. He was subsequently appointed as Judge of the Court of Protection, England and Wales’s mental capacity court (2010-2024) and 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. His latest 1,300 page book, the European Court of Human Rights and Mental Health, was published in September and has been described in a review as a ‘a magisterial work which is essential reading for those practising in the area of mental disability’.

Anselm’s practice is focused on areas that include :

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

Joint Head of the Court of Protection Team, Sophy Miles, said ‘Anselm Eldergill is a genuinely inspirational figure in the field of human rights, mental health and mental capacity. We are thrilled that he is joining Doughty Street Chambers and look forward to working with him.”

In 2019 he was awarded the prestigious Legal Aid Lawyer of the Year Special Award. 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.’