Progress to transparency in the Court of Protection

Against the backdrop of the 2023 launch of the Transparency Implementation Group Reporting Pilot in the Family Court (running in Leeds Carlisle and Cardiff) this article considers the progress made to achieving transparency in the Court of Protection since The Court of Protection Transparency Pilot launched in 2016. Particular attention is given to the important role played by legal bloggers to open up the Court of Protection and the lessons to be learnt from Re A (Covert Medication: Closed Proceedings) [2022] EWCOP 44 proceedings wherein closed hearings (unknown to A’s mother and her legal team) ran alongside public hearings one of which was attended and blogged upon by the Open Justice Court of Protection Project. This resulted in a reporting of circumstances which served to mislead the public and undermine transparency in the Court of Protection. It is posited that whilst Re A must be seen as a stain on the path to achieving transparency in the Court of Protection it reflects the positive effect of allowing the public to observe and comment on proceedings...

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