Court of Protection Rules Committee publishes review

The President of the Court of Protection, Sir Nicholas Wall, has published the Court of Protection Rules Committee's Review.

The Committee was set up in December 2009 to undertake a review of the Court of Protection Rules 2007 and the practice directions and forms which accompany them. The Rules govern the practice and procedure of the Court of Protection, which is the specialist court with jurisdiction to make decisions and to appoint a deputy to make decisions on behalf of those who lack capacity to make decisions for themselves.

Sir Nicholas said: "We have today published the report of the ad hoc Committee set up by Sir Mark Potter in December 2009.

"We are extremely grateful to the Committee for its hard work. We accept all the recommendations which it makes, and would support their implementation sooner rather than later. Discussions are underway on the constitution of a Committee which, in the future, will review and make recommendations relating to the procedure and practice of the Court of Protection.

"We are very pleased to see that the recommendations are directed to speeding up the process and to making non-contentious cases simpler and more user-friendly. We would like to congratulate everyone associated with the court on the manner in which it has tackled the unexpected volume of work and the initial backlogs. We are confident that with the changes recommended by the Committee the Court will move forward swiftly and fulfil efficiently the important role which it has in the overall administration of justice".