Hayley Trim's Analysis: Misconceptions, mistrust and missed opportunities

Misconceptions mistrust and missed opportunities

In Independent News & Media v A [2010] EWCA Civ 343 the Court of Appeal (consisting of the Lord Chief Justice Master of the Rolls and the President) gave permission for the media to attend Court of Protection (CoP) proceedings relating to a talented disabled musician whose biography was already in the public domain. Their Lordships noted that many of the matters before the court are "intensely personal and none of them would be in the public domain if A were capable of making his own decisions about his life." As such CoP hearings are generally in private. And yet "it would be difficult to find a more appropriate hearing before the CoP for media understanding of its processes. It is valuable for the public to be fully informed of precisely what happens in a court in which the overwhelming majority of hearings are conducted in private".

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