All resources on this page are freely accessible.
Glossary
A glossary can be found here of some of the acronyms, words and phrases you may come across in the Court of Protection, together with some of the acronyms relating to health and welfare which most often appear. Comments on it and suggestions for further things to include are very welcome via the contact page.
Legislation, forms and Practice Directions
A number of websites have gathered together relevant legislation and Practice Directions, including the Court of Protection Handbook and the Court of Protection Hub. Reproduced below, with permission from the Legal Action Group, are the relevant legislative material links from the Court of Protection Handbook.
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
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
COP forms and fees
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)
Practice Directions
- 1A: Participation of P
- 2A: Levels of Judiciary (updated 1 April 2024)
- 2B: Authorised court officers
- 2C: Application of Civil Procedure Rules and Family Procedure Rules
- 2D: Use of the Welsh Language in Cases in the Court of Protection in or Having a Connection With Wales (July 2022)
- 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 (updated 1 January 2023)
- 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 (updated 1 January 2023)
- 9C: Responding to an application (updated 1 January 2023)
- 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 (updated 1 January 2023)
- 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 (updated 1 January 2023)
- 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 (new version 1 April 2024)
- 20A: Appeals
- 20B: Allocation of appeals (updated 1 April 2024)
- 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
Note: the previous PD9E (relating to serious medical treatment) was repealed with effect from 1 December 2017. 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). Legal aid The Legal Aid Handbook website accompanying the Legal Action Group’s Legal Aid Handbook, includes primary and secondary legislation relevant to legal aid.
Case-law
Bailii: British and Irish Legal Information Institute: transcripts of judgments including decisions of the Court of Protection. Mental Health Law Online: Extensive site containing legislation, case transcripts and other useful material relating to both the Mental Capacity Act 2005 and the Mental Health Act 1983.
Commentary
39 Essex Chambers: 39 Essex Chambers has a dedicated Court of Protection resources site, including a monthly report and a searchable database of cases relating to mental capacity law.
Court of Protection Hub: Site maintained by the publishers of Court of Protection Made Clear: A User’s Guide, including case commentaries.
Garden Court Chambers: Garden Court Chambers has a website and newsletter dedicated to social welfare, including community care and incapacity, issues.
Guide to the Law of the NHS: this website contains material about the way the NHS operates, frequently of relevance in Court of Protection cases. It is maintained by members of Landmark Chambers.
Mental Capacity Law and Policy: A website maintained by Alex Ruck Keene dedicated to improving understanding of and practice in the field of mental capacity law, including articles, papers and other resources on the MCA 2005.
The Small Places: this is a blog site maintained by Lucy Series, socio-legal researcher and expert commentator upon the Court of Protection.
Three articles/presentations by Professor Anselm Eldergill, former District Judge at the Court of Protection, on the ECHR, the UNCRPD and the legal rights of citizens suffering mental ill-health; the rights of persons with disabilities in criminal proceedings; and the ECHR and mental health.
Emma Sutton KC and Alex Ruck Keene KC (Hon) have both reviewed Oliver Lewis, Coercive Control and Vulnerable Adults: Law and Practice in the Court of Protection and the Inherent Jurisdiction of the High Court (Bloomsbury, 2026).