Legislation, Forms and Practice Directions

Coronavirus/COVID-19

Whilst increasingly less relevant, given the return (in many cases) to hearings in person, the Guidance from the Vice President of 31 March 2020 has still not formally been withdrawn.  Guidance on remote access to the Court of Protection, which includes a detailed protocol for remote hearings and a draft order.

A useful practical guide for litigants in person to remote hearings in family proceedings has been produced by the Transparency Project, much of which is applicable to cases before the Court of Protection.

The Court of Protection Bar Association issued guidance (approved by Hayden J) on 7 April 2020 as to effective conduct of remote hearings in the Court of Protection, available here (as updated 7 July 2020).

Statutory materials etc

The links here are provided in good faith; however, caution should always be exercised in ensuring that the version of the legislation or guidance is current as not all freely available official sources (such as legislation.gov.uk) are entirely up to date.

Primary Legislation

• Mental Capacity Act 2005
• Human Rights Act 1998

Secondary Legislation

• Court of Protection Rules 2017, which came into force on 1 December.  A destination table showing how the Court of Protection Rules 2007 translate into the 2017 rules is available here, and an explanatory memorandum prepared by the Ministry of Justice to accompany the new Rules.
• Court of Protection Rules 2007 as amended 2017 (now historical interest only)
• Court of Protection Rules Pilot Parts 1-5 and 15 (now historical interest only)
• Civil Procedure Rules
• Court of Protection Fees Order 2007
• Mental Capacity Act 2005 (Transfer of Proceedings) Order 2007

Codes of Practice

• MCA Code of Practice
• DoLs Code of Practice

COP forms and fees

• Forms
• Court of Protection Fees Order 2007
• Fee remission form (COP44A) and guidance (COP44)

Practice Guidance and Practice Notes

• PG Practice Note 1/11: Court of Protection Costs
• Committal for Contempt of Court Practice Guidance (May 2013)
• Committal for Contempt of Court Practice Guidance (June 2013)
• Facilitating participation of ‘P’ and vulnerable persons in Court of Protection proceedings (November 2016)
• Serious Medical Treatment (January 2020)
• Appeal procedure (January 2020)

Court of Protection Practice Directions as of 1 December 2017 

• 1A: Participation of P
• 2A: Levels of Judiciary
• 2B: Authorised court officers
• 2C: Application of Civil Procedure Rules and Family Procedure Rules
• 3A: Dealing with Applications: court’s jurisdiction to be exercised by certain judges
• 3B: Case Pathways
• 4A: Hearings (including reporting restrictions)
• 4B: Court Bundles
• 4C: Transparency, and accompanying note from the Vice-President.  Note, the model order to which the Practice Direction makes reference has not yet been updated from that made under the Pilot.  An unofficial  corrected version in Word can be found here, including references to the Court of Protection Rules 2017 (with thanks to Hannah Nicholas for updating).   
• 5A: Court documents
• 5B: Statements of truth (Updated 1 January 2023)
• 6A: Service of documents
• 6B: Service out of the jurisdiction
• 7A: Notifying P
• 8A: Permission
• 9A: The application form (updated 1 January 2023)
• 9B: Notification of other persons that an application has been issued
• 9C: Responding to an application
• 9D: Applications by currently appointed deputies, attorneys and donees in relation to P’s property and affairs
• 9E: Applications relating to statutory will, codicils, settlements and other dealings with P’s property
• 9F: Applications to appoint or discharge a trustee
• 9G: Applications relating to the registration of enduring powers of attorney
• 9H: Property and Affairs Deputyship applications (new as of 1 January 2023)
• 10A: Applications within proceedings
• 10B: Urgent and interim applications
• 11A: Deprivation of liberty applications
• 12A: Human Rights Act 1998
• 13A: Procedure for disputing the court’s jurisdiction
• 14A: Written evidence (Updated 1 January 2023)
• 14B: Depositions
• 14C: Fees for examiners of the court
• 14D: Witness summons
• 14E: Section 49 reports
• 15A: Expert evidence
• 17A: Litigation friend
• 17B: Rule 1.2 representatives
• 18A: Change of solicitor
• 19A: Costs
• 19B: Fixed costs in the Court of Protection
• 20A: Appeals
• 20B: Allocation of appeals
• 21A: Contempt of court (Updated 1 January 2023)
• 22A: Civil restraint orders
• 23A: International protection of adults
• 24A: Request for directions where notice of objection prevents Public Guardian from registering enduring power of attorney
• 24B: Where P ceases to lack capacity or dies
• 24C: Transitional provisions

Re X process

• Practice Direction: 11A: Deprivation of liberty applications (note, the material paragraphs for these purposes are 27 and onwards)
• COP DOL11 form
• Model order (in Word)

Accredited Legal Representatives

Details of the ALR scheme – and those who are accredited as ALRs – can be found here.   The Practice Note issued by the Law Society for those acting as ALRs can be found here (the Practice Note is free, but requires registration).

Previous Practice Directions (to 1 December 2017)

These are maintained here for historical / comparative purposes.

• Case Management Pilot Practice Direction
• Section 49 reports Pilot Practice Direction
• Transparency Pilot (as amended in July 2016 to extend the Pilot until 31 August 2017, and to allow the model order to be amended more easily) (and accompanying guidance note from the Vice-President).   The model order was amended with effect from June 2017 to merge the Transparency Pilot approach and that previously provided for in Serious Medical Treatment cases: it is to be found here, with an accompanying note from the Vice-President.  An unofficial Word version can be found here.
• 2A: Participation of P
• 3A: Authorised court officers
• 3B: Levels of Judiciary
• 3C: Application of Civil Procedure Rules and Family Procedure Rules
• 4A: General Provisions – court documents
• 4B: General Provisions: statements of truth
• 6A: Service of Documents
• 6B: Service Out of the Jurisdiction
• 7A: Notifying P
• 8A: Permission
• 9A: How to start proceedings – the application form
• 9B: How to start proceedings – notification of other persons that an application form has been issued
• 9C: How to start proceedings – responding to an application
• 9D: How to start proceedings – applications by currently appointed deputies, attorneys and donees in relation to P’s property and affairs
• 9E: How to start proceedings – applications relating to serious medical treatment
• 9F: How to start proceedings – applications relating to statutory wills, codicils, settlements and other dealings with P’s property
• 9G: How to start proceedings – applications to appoint or discharge a trustee
• 9H: How to start proceedings – applications relating to the registration of Enduring Powers of Attorney
• 10A: Applications within proceedings
• 10AA: Deprivation of Liberty applications
• 10B: Applications within Proceedings – urgent and interim applications
• 11A: Human Rights
• 12A: Dealing with Applications: court’s jurisdiction to be exercised by certain judges
• 12B: Dealing with applications – procedure for disputing the court’s jurisdiction
• 13A: Hearings – hearings (including reporting restrictions)
• 13B: Court Bundles
• 14A: Admissions, Evidence and Depositions – written evidence
• 14B: Admissions, Evidence and Depositions – depositions
• 14C: Admissions, Evidence and Depositions – fees for examiners of the court
• 14D: Admissions, Evidence and Depositions – witness summons
• 14E: Admissions, Evidence and Depositions – section 49 reports
• 15A: Admissions, Evidence and Depositions – written evidence
• 17A: Litigation Friend
• 17B: Rule 3A Representatives
• 18A: Change of Solicitor
• 19A: Costs – Costs in the Court of Protection
• 19B: Fixed Costs in the Court of Protection (updated April 2017)
• 20A: Appeals
• 20B: Allocation of Appeals
• 21A: Enforcement – contempt of court
• 22A: Transitory and Transitional Provisions – transitional provisions
• 22B: Transitory and Transitional Provisions – transitory provisions
• 22C: Transitory and Transitional Provisions – appeals against decisions made under Part 7 of the Mental Health Act 1983 or under the Enduring Powers of Attorney Act 1985 which are brought on or after commencement
• 23A: Miscellaneous – request for directions where notice of objection prevents Public Guardian from registering Enduring Power of Attorney
• 23B: Miscellaneous – where P ceases to lack capacity or dies