Privacy, Transparency & Reporting Restrictions in the Court of Protection

Introduction

There has been a change in the approach of the Court of Protection, mirroring a wider change within the courts generally, to the question of whether the court should sit in public or private in recent years and following a Transparency Pilot in the Court of Protection which commenced in 2017.

Consequently, there have been changes to the Court of Protection Practice Directions to effect this change in approach, as well as new guidance on closed hearings and material in the Court of Protection and case law considering privacy and reporting restrictions generally but also specifically in the context of contempt proceedings in the Court of Protection.

Several recent cases have considered the issue of anonymisation and the identification of the subject of the Court of Protection proceedings, ‘P’.

There have also been two recent cases which considered the question of identification of an alleged contemnor in contempt proceedings in the Court of Protection, and the question of how any such identification might lead to the identification of ‘P’ and the measures that can be taken to ameliorate that risk, and whether such measures can be justified in the context of Article 10.

This new virtual classroom seminar will focus on the Transparency Practice Direction, the guidance and the case law, and the issues which practitioners need to consider to ensure the protection of privacy and the competing interests of transparency and open justice.

The session will also consider practical issues around the drafting and use of transparency orders, the use of closed material and closed hearings and how those can be employed where necessary, practical considerations when advising a client in respect of privacy and reporting and publication of the decisions in proceedings.

What You Will Learn

This live and interactive session will cover the following:

• The starting point in the Court of Protection as to transparency of the proceedings and what the Court of Protection rules say
• Recent guidance on reporting and transparency
• Template transparency orders and what to consider when drafting a transparency order
• Recent case law on privacy and reporting restrictions
• Recent case law relating to the identification of ‘P’
• Recent case law on the identification of contemnors in contempt proceedings in the Court of Protection and considerations for the other parties in those proceedings, particularly ‘P’ and how to protect their identity
• Practical matters to consider if you have observers in court

Recording of live sessions: Soon after the Learn Live session has taken place you will be able to go back and access the recording - should you wish to revisit the material discussed.