LAW IN PRACTICE
The days of ‘best interests’ are over Key points for practitioners on the commencement of the Assisted Decision-Making (Capacity) Act 2015.
Aisling Mulligan BL
Introduction The Assisted Decision-Making (Capacity) Act 2015 (the Act) has been a long time in the making, having taken the scenic route in becoming the legislation it is today. Despite being enacted in 2016, the substantive provisions of the Act are due to be commenced in June 2022. The first iteration came in 1996, when a Government white paper proposed legislation to give “powers to intervene to protect mentally disordered persons who were abused, exploited or neglected or were at risk of abuse
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THE BAR REVIEW : Volume 27; Number 2 – April 2022
or exploitation and to make provision for their care”.1 Part of the proposals included Orders for adults akin to Orders found under the Childcare Act 1991. These Adult Care Orders would have allowed any relevant interested party to apply for such an Order. There was no threshold test proposed, nor was there any requirement to engage with the subject adult. It is worth remembering the origins of this Act, as it may serve to explain why the final legislation, which spans more than 145 sections, is so person centred, detailed and defensive in its protections for the vulnerable adult who needs support to vindicate their autonomous rights. The legislation is expansive and detailed to provide as much clarity as possible to its reader. It is designed to be user friendly to support accessibility and avoid uncertainty. This article takes practitioners on a whistle-stop tour of most of the relevant provisions of supported decision-making and substituted decision-making in the Act.
