Mental Capacity Act

The Code of Practice for the Mental Capacity Act 2005 was published by the Government on 23 April 2007. The Code applies immediately to those aspects of the Mental Capacity Act relating to Independent Mental Capacity Advocates and the new criminal offence of ill-treatment or neglect and for all other provisions from 1 October 2007 once they come into force. Parts of the Act that came into effect in April 2007 include the new criminal offence of ill-treatment or wilful neglect of people lacking mental capacity and the Independent Mental Capacity Advocate Service in England (IMCA). Other parts of the Act including the Court of Protection, the Office of the Public Guardian, Lasting Powers of Attorney and the IMCA service for Wales will come into effect in October 2007. The Code and the Mental Capacity Act are available at http://www.dca.gov.uk/legal-policy/mental-capacity/index.htm