The tribunal has been able since 2012 to hold CTO mandatory reference hearings on the papers when the patient does not wish to attend or be represented at a hearing. In 2024 a similar power to hold detention mandatory reference hearings on the papers was added and, seeing as paper hearings dilute th…

I’m not sure it’s entirely in-step with your question, but I requested a paper hearing for a 6-month ref CTO patient recently without keeping in mind the R.35 changes. I got quite a fast response from a Judge approving it & waiving the new requirements under Rule 7 (2) “taking in mind” the previous …

Thanks. The tribunal is treating its rules as mere guidance. The decision seems to be unlawful: Rule 7(2) is about a party failing to comply with a requirement in the rules etc. The tribunal can’t use that rule to excuse its own failure (in this case, to hold an oral hearing unless one of the exc…

I agree, Jonathan. In this case my client was very set on a paper hearing. However, my suspicion is that the reasons were copy/paste so we might see it be considered in due course.

Would you be able to set out here the “copy/paste” reasons (of course, without including any information about the client’s case)?

I’d be hesitant without permission from the Tribunal to publish part of the decision. Is there any guidance you can refer me to?

My interpretation is that unless what you publish falls within “information about mental health cases and the names of any persons concerned in such cases” you don’t need permission. What “information” is protected from publication has been defined quite narrowly by the courts (see Pickering v Liver…

Thanks Jonathan. I’ve spoken to my client who has consented to this request, and I’ve submitted a request to the Tribunal to approve the jurisdiction issue as suitable to publish. I’ll update you here once I get a response.

Any news on publishing that decision @ZacSussex ? Here are some updates on the underlying issue. By the time of my first post above, the Tribunal Procedure Committee had already been made aware of their mistake and resolved to fix it at the earliest opportunity (see Tribunal Procedure Committee, ‘Mi…

No update on the case we discussed - I’ll chase.

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Potential reduction in paper reviews for CTO patients

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