Common assessments of mental capacity – cases to consider

2021 ◽  
pp. 106-138
Author(s):  
Tracey Ryan-Morgan
The Lancet ◽  
2005 ◽  
Vol 365 (9459) ◽  
pp. 568-569
Author(s):  
S OKEEFFE
Keyword(s):  

Author(s):  
Ronnie Mackay ◽  
Warren Brookbanks

Fitness to plead is an area of growing importance in most Western jurisdictions. It challenges the justification for criminalisation wherever a person’s mental capacity calls into question their ability to participate meaningfully in a trial. However, the doctrine has proven difficult to apply in practice, with many legislative models represented across the jurisdictions. How best to formulate rules for the fair trial of those with mental or physical incapacity and how to manage the issue of disposition following a finding of unfitness is a challenge in most countries. These and other issues are explored in this book through the insights of domestic and international scholars who are familiar with the law around unfitness to stand trial. This chapter broadly describes the fundamental parameters and human rights aspects of the fitness-to-plead doctrine, and concludes with a brief account of the essential elements of each chapter.


Author(s):  
Hugh Series

This chapter reviews the legal regulation of treatment of depression as it exists in England and Wales, where medicinal products are regulated largely by the Medicines Act 1988 and the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971. The Medicines Act divides medicinal products into pharmacy only medicines, which can only be purchased under the supervision of a pharmacist, over-the-counter medicines, and prescription only medicines. The Misuse of Drugs Act is concerned with controlled drugs. These are divided into three classes according to their perceived degree of harmfulness. This chapter considers treatment with valid consent and two pieces of legislation that govern people who are sufficiently ill and need to be admitted to hospital: the Mental Health Act 1983 (MHA) and the Mental Capacity Act 2005 (MCA). It also discusses treatment of mentally incapacitated patients and the issue of liberty regarding the admission of a compliant but incapacitated patient to hospital. Finally, it looks at three types of non-medical prescribing in England, issued by independent prescribers, supplementary prescribers, and community practitioners.


Author(s):  
Mahesh K. Joshi ◽  
J.R. Klein

New technologies like artificial intelligence, robotics, machine intelligence, and the Internet of Things are seeing repetitive tasks move away from humans to machines. Humans cannot become machines, but machines can become more human-like. The traditional model of educating workers for the workforce is fast becoming irrelevant. There is a massive need for the retooling of human workers. Humans need to be trained to remain focused in a society which is constantly getting bombarded with information. The two basic elements of physical and mental capacity are slowly being taken over by machines and artificial intelligence. This changes the fundamental role of the global workforce.


2021 ◽  
Vol 30 (5) ◽  
pp. 320-321
Author(s):  
Richard Griffith

Richard Griffith, Senior Lecturer in Health Law at Swansea University, considers two recent cases in the Court of Protection that determined if the COVID-19 vaccine was in the best interests of a person who lacked the mental capacity to decide on immunisation after relatives objected its administration


2021 ◽  
pp. 109861112199671
Author(s):  
Quin Patterson ◽  
Michael D. White

The cause(s) of reduced use of force and complaints following police body-worn camera (BWC) deployment remain unclear, though some argue that BWCs generate a civilizing effect on citizen behavior. This potential effect rests on four pre-conditions: (1) BWC presence and citizen awareness; (2) BWC activation; (3) Escalated citizen behavior or the potential for escalation; (4) Citizen mental capacity for BWC awareness. Prior research has not established the civilizing effect’s existence, or how often these pre-conditions are met; this study aims to fill that gap. Data was collected during systematic social observation (SSO) of 166 encounters between citizens and officers in the Tempe, Arizona Police Department. The results tell a simple story. Two pre-conditions (activation, citizen mental capacity) are consistently met; awareness and escalated behavior are not. Overall, 1.2% of encounters saw all pre-conditions met. The paper concludes with a discussion of the implications for research on BWCs.


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