— The changes to the HESC rules relate to (1) making decisions which dispose of reference proceedings without a hearing (informally called paper hearings) under Tribunal rule 35; and (2) setting aside decisions under Tribunal rule 45. The intention of the rule 35 change is to undo the 2024 amendment which accidentally applied extra safeguards for CTO patients (those being requirements that the first and at least alternate decisions thereafter be made at hearings). But an accidental side-effect of the 2025 amendment is to remove those and other safeguards from detained patients. Their safeguards now do not apply if their case either has not previously been considered by the tribunal or was last considered without a hearing (which is the reverse of what must be intended). The lost safeguards are any restrictions on repeated paper hearings (as above), the requirement to be legally represented, and the requirement that the representative state in writing: that the patient does not wish to attend or be represented; that the representative has discussed any reports or other documents provided; and that the patient has capacity to decide. (The requirement that the tribunal be satisfied of patient's capacity is possibly also part of the disapplied detained-patient safeguards.) The change to rule 45 expressly provides that the set-aside power can be exercised either on the application of a party or on the tribunal's own initiative.
Full details available at: https://www.mentalhealthlaw.co.uk/Tribunal_Procedure_(Amendment)_Rules_2025?id=270625-1042