Mental Capacity Act 2005#The five statutory principles

{{Infobox UK legislation

|short_title=Mental Capacity Act 2005The citation of this Act by this short title is authorised by [http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2005/9/section/69 section 69] of this Act.

|type=Act

|parliament=Parliament of the United Kingdom

|long_title=An Act to make new provision relating to persons who lack capacity; to establish a superior court of record called the Court of Protection in place of the office of the Supreme Court called by that name; to make provision in connection with the Convention on the International Protection of Adults signed at the Hague on 13 January 2000; and for connected purposes.

|year=2005

|statute_book_chapter=2005 c. 9

|introduced_by=

|territorial_extent=England and Wales, except that paragraph 16(1) of Schedule 1 and paragraph 15(3) of Schedule 4 extend to the United Kingdom and, subject to any provision made in Schedule 6, the amendments and repeals made by Schedules 6 and 7 have the same extent as the enactments to which they relate.The Mental Capacity Act 2005, [http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2005/9/section/68 sections 68(4) to (6)]

|royal_assent=7 April 2005

|commencement=

|repeal_date=

|amendments=

|related_legislation=

|repealing_legislation=

|status=Amended

|original_text=http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2005/9/contents/enacted

|legislation_history=

|revised_text=http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2005/9/contents

|}}

The Mental Capacity Act 2005 (c. 9) is an act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom applying to England and Wales.{{Cite web|url=https://www.scie.org.uk/mca/introduction/mental-capacity-act-2005-at-a-glance|title=Mental Capacity Act 2005|website=Social Care Institute for Excellence (SCIE)|language=en|access-date=2019-10-29}} Its primary purpose is to provide a legal framework for acting and making decisions on behalf of adults who lack the capacity to make particular decisions for themselves.[http://www.justice.gov.uk/docs/mca-cp.pdf Mental Capacity Act (2005) Code of Practice (2007)] London: TSO.

Key features of the Act

=The five statutory principles=

The five principles are outlined in Section 1 of the Act. These are designed to protect people who lack capacity to make particular decisions and to maximise their ability to make decisions and participate in decision-making, as far as they are able to do so.

{{quote|1. A person must be assumed to have capacity unless it is established that he/she lacks capacity.

2. A person is not to be treated as unable to make a decision unless all practicable steps to help him/her to do so have been taken without success.

3. A person is not to be treated as unable to make a decision merely because he/she makes an unwise decision.

4. An act done, or decision made, under this Act for or on behalf of a person who lacks capacity must be done, or made, in his/ her best interests.

5. Before the act is done, or the decision is made, regard must be had to whether the purpose for which it is needed can be as effectively achieved in a way that is less restrictive of the person’s rights and freedom of action.The Mental Capacity Act 2005, [http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2005/9/section/1 section 1]}}

=Summary of other key elements of the Act=

The Act makes provision for people to plan ahead for a time when they may need support. This introduces advance decisions to refuse treatment.
The decision (or question) under consideration must be time and decision specific.
The Act upholds the principle of Best Interest for the individual concerned.
A Court of Protection will help with difficult decisions. The [http://www.publicguardian.gov.uk/ Office of the Public Guardian] (formerly Public Guardianship Office), the administrative arm of the Court of Protection, will help the Act work.
An [http://www.gov.uk/government/publications/independent-mental-capacity-advocates Independent Mental Capacity Advocate] (IMCA) service will provide help for people who have no intimate support network.
S(44) of The Act makes it a criminal offence to wilfully neglect someone without capacity.
The Act generally applies only to those over the age of 16 years, although may apply to some younger people if it is supposed that their capacity will continue to be impaired into adulthood.

Section 68: Commencement and extent

The following orders have been made under this section:

[http://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2006/2814/contents/made The Mental Capacity Act 2005 (Commencement No.1) Order 2006] (S.I. 2006/2814 (C. 95))
[http://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2006/3473/contents/made The Mental Capacity Act 2005 (Commencement No.1) (Amendment) Order 2006] (S.I. 2006/3473 (C. 133))
[http://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2007/1897/contents/made The Mental Capacity Act 2005 (Commencement No. 2) Order 2007] (S.I. 2007/1897 (C. 72))
[http://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2007/563/contents/made The Mental Capacity Act 2005 (Commencement No. 1) (England and Wales) Order 2007] (S.I. 2007/563 (C. 24))
[http://www.legislation.gov.uk/wsi/2007/856/contents/made Mental Capacity Act 2005 (Commencement) (Wales) Order 2007] (S.I. 2007/856 (W. 79) (C. 34))

Timetable of new features

The new measures that the Act introduced were:

April 2007

A new criminal offence of wilful neglect of a person without capacity
A new Independent Mental Capacity Advocacy Service in England
A Code of Practice that tells people how to ensure they are following the Act

October 2007

Extension of the Independent Mental Capacity Advocacy Service to Wales
Lasting Powers of Attorney and deputies
A new Court of Protection
A new Office of the Public Guardian[http://www.publicguardian.gov.uk/]

Amendments

In response to the ruling by the European Court of Human Rights in HL v UK (2004) (the 'Bournewood' judgment) the Act was amended by the Mental Health Act 2007 in July that year. These additions are known as the Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards (DoLS), and were implemented in April 2009.[http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2007/12/contents The Mental Health Act 2007] These amendments created administrative procedures to ensure the Act's processes are observed in cases of adults who are, or may be, deprived of their liberty in care homes or hospitals, thus protecting health and social care providers from prosecution under human rights legislation.{{cite journal | last1 = Braithwaite | first1 = R | year = 2013 | title = DoLS protect care homes, not patients | doi = 10.1136/bmj.f5595 | journal = BMJ | volume = 347 | page = f5595 }}

Key elements of the DoLS are that the person must be provided with a representative and given the right to challenge the deprivation of liberty through the Court of Protection, and that there must be a mechanism for the deprivation of liberty to be reviewed and monitored regularly.{{cite web|url=http://www.alzheimers.org.uk/site/scripts/documents_info.php?documentID=1327|title=Factsheet 483: Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards (DoLS)|publisher=Alzheimer's Society|accessdate=23 February 2015}}

The DoLS were introduced in response to the Bournewood case, on which the European Court of Human Rights ruled in October 2004 (HL v United Kingdom) that a detention of an incapacitated patient which did not comply with Article 5 of the European Convention on Human Rights had taken place; in particular, a person who is detained must be told the reasons for the detention and must also, under Article 5(4), have the right of speedy access to a court to appeal against the detention.

=Mental Capacity (Amendment) Act 2019=

The [http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2019/18/enacted/data.htm Mental Capacity Act was amended in May 2019]. This act will replace DoLS with a new legal framework called Liberty Protection Safeguards (LPS). These will be used for anyone 16 or above who lacks capacity rather than 18 as previously used in DoLS. The "acid test' from the Cheshire West case remains, there is still no statutory definition of deprivation of liberty. The target date for implementation was October 2020,{{Cite web|title=Liberty Protection Safeguards (LPS)|url=https://www.scie.org.uk/mca/dols/practice/lps|access-date=2020-07-05|website=Social Care Institute for Excellence (SCIE)|language=en}} but it was announced by Helen Whately, Minister for Care, in July 2020 that the implementation would be delayed, with full implementation expected by April 2022. Some of this delay was attributed to the Coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic. During this period a draft Code of practice will be produced which will go out to public consultation.{{Cite web|title=Implementation of Liberty Protection Safeguards: Written statement - HCWS377|url=https://www.parliament.uk/business/publications/written-questions-answers-statements/written-statement/Commons/2020-07-16/HCWS377/|access-date=2020-08-16|website=UK Parliament|language=en}} On 4 April 2023 a further delay was announced by the government, who stated that any implementation is likely to be beyond the life of the present Parliament.{{Cite web |date=2023-04-13 |title=BASW responds to decision to delay introduction of liberty protection safeguards |url=https://www.basw.co.uk/media/news/2023/apr/basw-responds-decision-delay-introduction-liberty-protection-safeguards |access-date=2023-05-14 |website=www.basw.co.uk |language=en}}

= UK legislation =

{{UK-LEG|path=ukpga/2005/9|title=Mental Capacity Act 2005|type=ukpga}}
[http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2005/9/notes/contents Explanatory notes] to the Mental Capacity Act 2005.

References

External links

[http://www.dh.gov.uk/en/Publicationsandstatistics/Bulletins/theweek/Chiefexecutivebulletin/DH_4108436/ Department of Health summary]
[https://web.archive.org/web/20070716044706/http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/DisabledPeople/HealthAndSupport/YourRightsInHealth/DG_10016888 Summary from direct.gov]
[http://www.dca.gov.uk/menincap/mca-act-easyread.pdf Easy Read Summary in Plain English]
[http://thesmallplaces.blogspot.co.uk/2013/06/your-statistical-guide-to-mental.html Your statistical guide to the Mental Capacity Act 2005]
[http://www.alzheimers.org.uk/site/scripts/documents_info.php?documentID=354 Factsheet 460: Mental Capacity Act 2005], Alzheimer's Society
[http://www.alzheimers.org.uk/site/scripts/documents_info.php?documentID=1327 Factsheet 483: Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards (DoLS)], Alzheimer's Society
[http://www.annaraccoon.com/politics/protecting-the-vulnerable/ Protecting the Vulnerable? by Anna Raccoon]
[http://www.russell-cooke.co.uk/clientUpload/document/file/Cross%20border%20incapacity%20-%20will%20England%20and%20Wales%20find%20the%20tin%20opener%20-%20Elder%20Law%20Journal%202011.pdf Cross border incapacity: Will England and Wales find the tin opener? Schedule 3 to the Mental Capacity Act 2005]

Category:2005 in England

Category:2005 in Wales

Category:Acts of the Parliament of the United Kingdom concerning England and Wales

Category:Mental health law in the United Kingdom

Category:Welfare in England

Category:Welfare in Wales

Category:United Kingdom Acts of Parliament 2005

Category:Capacity (law)