Category: secure hospitals

M v Hackney London Borough Council and others [2011] EWCA Civ 4; [2011] WLR (D) 2

“A hospital trust was entitled to rely upon an application for the admission for treatment of a patient under the Mental Health Act 1983 which appeared to comply with section 6(3) of the Act as being a lawfully made application pursuant to the provisions of the Act. Where such an application, completed by an approved mental health professional (AMHP), had failed to comply with those provisions, the failure rendered the patient’s detention unlawful and imposed the responsibility for the unlawful detention upon the AMHP. The statutory defence in section 139(1), which relieved the AMHP from civil liability unless he or she had acted in bad faith or without reasonable care, would be read down by virtue of section 3 of the Human Rights Act 1998 so as to permit a claim by the detained person for compensation from the AHMP.”

WLR Daily, 17th January 2011

Source: www.lawreports.co.uk

Please note once a case has been fully reported in one of the ICLR series the corresponding WLR Daily summary is removed.