Mental Health Bill

On 26 November 2024, the House of Lords held a debate on the second reading of the Mental Health Bill. 

Several members of Chambers have been actively involved in the reforms. In 2018, Aswini Weereratne KC chaired the Mental Health Act / Mental Capacity Act topic group for the Independent Review of the Mental Health Act that led to Prof Sir Simon Wessely’s report. Sophy Miles sat on the topic group on Tribunals and has since trained and written about  the proposals: see her opinion pieces here and here.

Oliver Lewis has been working with NGOs to try and get autistic people and those with learning disabilities out of MHA detention and into the community. In the second reading this week, Baroness Barbara Keeley used two of Oliver’s clients to illustrate the problems, and shared several ideas in his opinion piece: See the recording from 19:59 onwards and Hansard. 

To further contribute to the Bill’s passage, Doughty Street Chambers will hold a series of webinars on the Mental Health Bill in the first half of 2025. During the series, Aswini, Sophy and Oliver will be joined by Chambers’ colleague Elizabeth Cleaver and outside speakers. 

The series will be launched at a hybrid event in the evening of Tuesday 21 January 2025: watch this space for more details. Thereafter, four webinars will do a deep dive into (a) admission criteria and the new “nominated person” (b) detention and treatment; (c) autism and learning disability; and (d) the Tribunal and aftercare.

For more information about our Court of Protection and Mental Health Team, contact Senior Practice Manager Rachel Finch.