court of protection – Charles Cooper

Townsend v. Epsom NHS Trust [2026] EWCA Civ 195

‘Any decision about the care and treatment of a mentally incapacitated adult, including the withdrawal of life-sustaining treatment, must be taken in the patient’s best interests… If there is disagreement, “a court application can and should be made”… The hospital cannot pre-empt court proceedings by unilaterally withholding or withdrawing treatment on “clinical” grounds’: https://caselaw.nationalarchives.gov.uk/ewca/civ/2026/195
Read more: Townsend v. Epsom NHS Trust [2026] EWCA Civ 195
Stockport Met BC v. EKK [2025] EWCOP 42

Distinguishing the decision of the Supreme Court in A Local Authority v. JB [2021] UKSC 52 as to capacity to engage in sexual relations, the Court finds: ‘The approach set out in Sheffield [City Council v. E [2004] EWHC 2808, pre MCA 2005] and developed thereafter enables the right balance between the protection of the incapacitous and a restriction on…
Read more: Stockport Met BC v. EKK [2025] EWCOP 42
A London NHS Trust v. DT [2025] EWCOP 36

Prior to the diagnosis of death through the 2025 Code [of Practice for the Diagnosis and Confirmation of Death] the individual concerned Is not dead as a matter of law – MCA 2005 applies and consequently in the absence of agreement for brain stem testing to be carried out, or the arrangements for them, an application…
Read more: A London NHS Trust v. DT [2025] EWCOP 36

Charles Cooper | Barrister