Mental Capacity Act 2005

Mental Capacity Act 2005

Act of Parliament
Parliament of the United Kingdom
Long title	An Act to make new provision relating to persons who lack capacity; to establish a superior court of record called the Court of Protection in place of the office of the Supreme Court called by that name; to make provision in connection with the Convention on the International Protection of Adults signed at the Hague on 13 January 2000; and for connected purposes.
Territorial extent	England and Wales, except that paragraph 16(1) of Schedule 1 and paragraph 15(3) of Schedule 4 extend to the United Kingdom and, subject to any provision made in Schedule 6, the amendments and repeals made by Schedules 6 and 7 have the same extent as the enactments to which they relate.
Dates
Royal assent	7 April 2005
Status: Amended
Text of statute as originally enacted
Revised text of statute as amended

The Mental Capacity Act 2005 is a law made by the Parliament of the United Kingdom for people living in England and Wales. This law helps adults who can't make certain decisions on their own by providing rules for others to make those decisions for them.

Main parts of the Act

The five statutory principles

The law has five important rules to help protect people who can't make certain decisions on their own. These rules are there to make sure people get as much help as possible to make their own choices and be involved in decisions about their lives.

1. We should believe someone can make their own decisions unless we know they definitely can't.

2. We should try everything we can to help someone make a decision before deciding they can't.

3. Just because someone makes a bad choice doesn't mean they can't make decisions.

4. If we have to make a decision for someone, we must do what is best for them and keep their wishes in mind.

5. Before making a decision for someone, we should think about whether there's a way to do it that gives them more freedom and respects their rights.

Other important information in the Act

• The law lets people make plans for the future in case they need help later. This includes saying no to certain treatments ahead of time.
• Decisions should be made based on the specific time and question at hand.
• The law says we must always do what is best for the person.
• A special court called the Court of Protection helps with tough decisions. The Office of the Public Guardian is part of this court, and helps to make sure the law is used properly.
• An Independent Mental Capacity Advocate (IMCA) can help people who don't have close family or friends to support them.
• It is a crime if someone decides not to give someone who can't make decisions for themselves the proper support or care.
• The law is mostly for people over 16 years old, but can also help some younger people if they will still need support as they grow up.

Changes

In 2004, one of the main courts in Europe said that some parts of the law needed to change to protect people's rights. Because of this, new rules called the Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards (DoLS) were added to the Mental Health Act in 2007. These new rules started in April 2009.

These rules help make sure that if an adult is kept in a care home or hospital and can't leave, there are proper procedures to follow. This protects the people taking care of them from getting into trouble.

Important parts of the DoLS are:

1. The person must have someone to represent them.
2. They must be able to ask a special court called the Court of Protection to review their situation.
3. There should be regular checks to make sure everything is fair.

These rules were made because of a case where a person was kept in a hospital without being told why and without a way to quickly ask a court to help. The European court said that everyone who is kept somewhere must know why and be able to ask a court to review it quickly.

UK laws

• Text of the Mental Capacity Act 2005 as in force today (including any amendments) within the United Kingdom, from legislation.gov.uk.
• Explanatory notes to the Mental Capacity Act 2005.

See also

• Adults with Incapacity (Scotland) Act 2000
• Mental Health Act 1983
• Mental Health Act 2007

Links to other websites

• Department of Health summary
• Summary from direct.gov
• Easy Read Summary in Plain English
• Your statistical guide to the Mental Capacity Act 2005
• Factsheet 460: Mental Capacity Act 2005, Alzheimer's Society
• Factsheet 483: Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards (DoLS), Alzheimer's Society
• Protecting the Vulnerable? by Anna Raccoon
• Cross border incapacity: Will England and Wales find the tin opener? Schedule 3 to the Mental Capacity Act 2005