# Reflections on AGNI decision **URL:** \ **Category:** Mental Capacity Act\ **Tags:** dol, agni\ **Created:** [5 June 2026 23:01 UTC](https://forum.mentalhealthlaw.co.uk/t/reflections-on-agni-decision/5716 "2026-06-05T23:01:14Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![CaptainWalker](https://forum.mentalhealthlaw.co.uk/user_avatar/forum.mentalhealthlaw.co.uk/captainwalker/32/159_2.png) [@CaptainWalker](https://forum.mentalhealthlaw.co.uk/u/CaptainWalker)\ **Post date:** [5 June 2026 23:01 UTC](https://forum.mentalhealthlaw.co.uk/t/reflections-on-agni-decision/5716/1 "2026-06-05T23:01:14Z")
In essence Cheshire West was laid to rest. The true nature of Article 5 - hand in hand with the 1966 Practice Statement - meant a return to the past. No bad thing. The interpretation of the MCA and it’s Code of Practice will be changed so much, they they will have to be revised considerably. ---
**Author:** ![Jonathan](https://forum.mentalhealthlaw.co.uk/user_avatar/forum.mentalhealthlaw.co.uk/jonathan/32/88_2.png) [@Jonathan](https://forum.mentalhealthlaw.co.uk/u/Jonathan)\ **Post date:** [6 June 2026 07:12 UTC](https://forum.mentalhealthlaw.co.uk/t/reflections-on-agni-decision/5716/2 "2026-06-06T07:12:23Z")
I agree that there’ll need to be updates and new guidance, but the MCA code and the DOLS supplement were written well before _Cheshire West_, so if anything they’ll be back in vogue. My favourite judges in this area have always been DJ Eldergill and Mostyn J (also Lieven J recently). I’m sure they’ll be happy with being vindicated. I asked Anselm at a conference years ago how Mostyn got such bad press when there was hardly a fag paper between them. I can’t fully remember the answer but think it was along the lines of, “It must be how we say it.” We should write our laws based on what we want to achieve as a nation and ensure compliance with relevant international treaties as a secondary consideration. It’s foolish to build a legislative regime on the shifting sands of ECHR case law. ---
**Author:** ![JamesCodling](https://forum.mentalhealthlaw.co.uk/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/j/e95f7d/32.png) [@JamesCodling](https://forum.mentalhealthlaw.co.uk/u/JamesCodling)\ **Post date:** [9 June 2026 10:04 UTC](https://forum.mentalhealthlaw.co.uk/t/reflections-on-agni-decision/5716/3 "2026-06-09T10:04:42Z")
What i said to a colleague was - We (the majority of health and social care) have ultimately been asleep at the wheel in meeting our responsibilities under the Care Act, Mental Capacity Act and ECHR, for example, and relying on DoL to make us do what we should already be doing! As the judges rightly said,_"185_ […] _A crude application of article 5 cannot be a cure for the problems posed by caring for vulnerable adults with mental health or other cognitive disabilities. Nor is it necessary to adopt that interpretation of article 5 to safeguard the interests of such individuals, since **other legal regimes and Convention rights apply in their case**",_ I think that is entirely correct. ---
**Author:** ![Jonathan](https://forum.mentalhealthlaw.co.uk/user_avatar/forum.mentalhealthlaw.co.uk/jonathan/32/88_2.png) [@Jonathan](https://forum.mentalhealthlaw.co.uk/u/Jonathan)\ **Post date:** [29 June 2026 10:03 UTC](https://forum.mentalhealthlaw.co.uk/t/reflections-on-agni-decision/5716/4 "2026-06-29T10:03:20Z")
4 posts were split to a new topic: [If coercion is a necessary element of ‘confinement’ when could there ever be ‘valid consent’?](https://forum.mentalhealthlaw.co.uk/t/if-coercion-is-a-necessary-element-of-confinement-when-could-there-ever-be-valid-consent/5772) ---
**Author:** ![Jonathan](https://forum.mentalhealthlaw.co.uk/user_avatar/forum.mentalhealthlaw.co.uk/jonathan/32/88_2.png) [@Jonathan](https://forum.mentalhealthlaw.co.uk/u/Jonathan)\ **Post date:** [29 June 2026 10:08 UTC](https://forum.mentalhealthlaw.co.uk/t/reflections-on-agni-decision/5716/8 "2026-06-29T10:08:38Z")
A post was split to a new topic: [‘Valid consent’ provided by advance statement?](https://forum.mentalhealthlaw.co.uk/t/valid-consent-provided-by-advance-statement/5773)