Mental Capacity and Guardianship Bill 2008

Public bill · Private Member · Introduced

The Mental Capacity and Guardianship Bill 2008 would replace outdated rules with a framework for supporting adults who may be unable to make particular decisions, while presuming that everyone has capacity unless shown otherwise. It would allow limited, informal decisions about care, create a Guardianship Board able to appoint personal guardians for financial, property and welfare matters, and establish a Public Guardian to supervise guardians and attorneys and handle complaints. The High Court would retain control over major issues such as stopping life-sustaining treatment, organ donation and non-therapeutic sterilisation.

Formal long title

Bill entitled an Act to reform the law concerning mental capacity, to provide for informal decision-making on behalf of adult persons who lack capacity in certain circumstances, to establish a Guardianship Board which may appoint Personal Guardians to deal with the property, financial matters and welfare of adult persons who lack capacity, to confer jurisdiction on the High Court in certain matters, to provide for the establishment of the office of Public Guardian and to set out the functions and powers of the Public Guardian, to amend and repeal various enactments for this purpose, and for related matters

Last updated 12 April 2018