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openjusticecop.bsky.social
Hello to everyone on Bluesky - we've just joined.

We're promoting #OpenJustice in the English Court of Protection by supporting members of the public to observe and blog about court hearings in the #NotSecretCourt

Check out our website openjusticecourtofprotection.org
Promoting Open Justice in the Court of Protection
Post by @OpenJusticeCoP.
openjusticecourtofprotection.org
November 25, 2024 at 10:52 AM
openjusticecop.bsky.social
Now with link to judgment, just published today. What did the judge decide? Click on the link at the top of the blog post.

#NotSecretCourt
August 12, 2025 at 6:27 PM
kitzingercelia.bsky.social
There's a COP application before HHJ Richardson today from Sophia Hindley, currently in prison for contempt of court, to "purge her contempt", i.e. apologise + secure release.

Does anyone know of previous COP cases like this? (I've found some Family Division cases)

#OpenJustice #NotSecretCourt
March 5, 2025 at 8:10 AM
amandaaphill.bsky.social
I’m looking forward to this! Send an email to openjustice@yahoo.com to receive a link
#NotSecretCourt #openjustice
openjusticecop.bsky.social Open Justice Court of Protection Project @openjusticecop.bsky.social · Dec 2
This week!

Still time to sign up for our next webinar - How to Observe Remote Court of Protection hearings.

Thursday 5th December 2024
5-6pm

Email openjustice@yahoo.com and we will send you the link.
December 2, 2024 at 3:27 PM
openjusticecop.bsky.social
Hello @HMCTS staff in Brighton

Please remember to include the names of applicant/respondent bodies in your public lists.

Transparency demands it!

#OpenJustice #NotSecretCourt
March 17, 2025 at 8:19 PM
openjusticecop.bsky.social
Take a look at the Featured Hearings on our website if you are looking for a Court of Protection hearing to observe Wednesday 4th December:

openjusticecourtofprotection.org

#NotSecretCourt #openjustice
December 3, 2024 at 6:23 PM
kitzingercelia.bsky.social
This patient was (said the judge) “drifting in a vacuum of ineffective best interests decision making for a number of years.” By @jennykitzinger.bsky.social

#NotSecretCourt #OpenJustice

openjusticecourtofprotection.org/2024/11/15/t...
The patient with no friends or family: A challenge for best interests assessment
Jenny Kitzinger, 15th November 2024 It felt quite lonely and empty in Court 33 in the Royal Courts of Justice when I went (in person) on 14th October 2024.  The case (COP 14234849) concer…
openjusticecourtofprotection.org
November 24, 2024 at 11:27 AM
openjusticecop.bsky.social
It's our birthday - 5 years old today!

Who are we and what have we achieved in the last five years?

And what's next?

#openjustice #notsecretcourt

openjusticecourtofprotection.org/2025/06/15/o...
Open Justice Court of Protection Project is five years old today
By the Core Team of the Open Justice COP Project (Celia Kitzinger, Gill Loomes-Quinn, Daniel Clark, Amanda Hill and Claire Martin), 15th June 2025 It was launched – with no funding and no clear pla…
openjusticecourtofprotection.org
June 15, 2025 at 9:47 AM
openjusticecop.bsky.social
Balancing patient welfare and procedural fairness: Withdrawal of ventilation before Hayden J by @kitzingercelia.bsky.social

#NotSecretCourt

openjusticecourtofprotection.org/2025/08/04/b...
Balancing patient welfare and procedural fairness: Withdrawal of ventilation before Hayden J
By Celia Kitzinger, 4th August 2025 The case, COP 20018026, before Mr Justice Hayden on 22nd and 23rd July 2025,  appeared in the Royal Courts of Justice Daily Cause list as concerning “seriou…
openjusticecourtofprotection.org
August 5, 2025 at 7:50 AM
openjusticecop.bsky.social
**
A heart-breaking story about a 90+ year old mother and her 70+ year old son kept apart by DOLS during the pandemic.

We must do better than this - it can't be right to cause this much emotional devastation.

#openjustice #notsecretcourt

openjusticecourtofprotection.org/2024/12/01/b...
“Bureaucracy blots out the sun”: Telling Ella Lung’s story
Ella Lung, suffering from dementia, was deprived of her freedom in a care home for over two years. Her son, Richard, documented her distress and their experiences through fourteen journals. Despite…
openjusticecourtofprotection.org
December 1, 2024 at 9:19 PM
openjusticecop.bsky.social
We publish 2-3 blogs each week - mostly by members of public who watch court hearings and describe + reflect on what they saw.

Here's a recent blog post by @amandaaphill.bsky.social and @thesmallplaces.bsky.social

#NotSecretCourt #OpenJustice

openjusticecourtofprotection.org/2024/10/24/t...
Tony Hickmott: Not the happy ending everyone had hoped for
By Amanda Hill and Lucy Series, 24th October 2024 Hopes were high back in 2022. Tony Hickmott[1] who had spent 21 years in a secure Assessment and Treatment Unit (ATU), was finally m…
openjusticecourtofprotection.org
November 28, 2024 at 9:50 AM
openjusticecop.bsky.social
Featured hearings on Thursday 19 February 2026.

Two hearings at the Royal Courts of Justice

#NotSecretCourt

openjusticecourtofprotection.org
Promoting Open Justice in the Court of Protection
Post by @OpenJusticeCoP.
openjusticecourtofprotection.org
February 18, 2026 at 4:49 PM
openjusticecop.bsky.social
New blog post....

#openjustice #NotSecretCourt

openjusticecourtofprotection.org/2025/05/14/v...
Validity and applicability of an Advance Decision to Refuse Treatment: A pre-trial review
By Celia Kitzinger, 14th May 2025 The man at the centre of this case (COP 20006397, before Poole J) is in his 40s.  On 5th May 2024, he suffered a cardiac arrest resulting in a severe hypoxic …
openjusticecourtofprotection.org
May 14, 2025 at 9:07 PM
amandaaphill.bsky.social
@baronesskeeley.bsky.social raises the sad case of Tony Hickmott, which I blogged about recently, written with @thesmallplaces.bsky.social

openjusticecourtofprotection.org/2024/10/24/t...

#Notsecretcourt @openjusticecop.bsky.social
November 26, 2024 at 6:27 AM
openjusticecop.bsky.social
Today's the day. Come and meet us at 5.30pm and hear about what we do and how we can support you to observe Court of Protection hearings!

#openjustice #NotSecretCourt
openjusticecop.bsky.social Open Justice Court of Protection Project @openjusticecop.bsky.social · Sep 3
A week and a day to go until the next OJCOP webinar: How to observe remote hearings in the Court of Protection.

Still time to sign up!

Email us at openjustice@yahoo.com
How to observe remote hearings in the Court of Protection A one-hour webinar Thursday 11th September 2025, 5.30pm-6.30pm Ever wanted to observe a hearing in the Court of Protection? Come to our small friendly webinar on how to observe remotely (via video-link) from the comfort of your own home. Hosted by Claire and Celia. It’s free and open to anyone – email us for more info (openjustice@yahoo.com)
September 11, 2025 at 6:45 AM
gillloomesquinn.bsky.social
Yay! @sionr.bsky.social has created a Court of Protection starter pack (👏) - fab collection of people interested in the #NotSecretCourt
sionr.bsky.social Siôn @sionr.bsky.social · Nov 19
I have had a go at creating a Court of Protection starter pack off the back of a relatively quick search on here. I have undoubtedly missed a lot of people, so feel free to let me know if I have.

#starterpack #CourtofProtection #COP

go.bsky.app/THz8BHw
November 20, 2024 at 12:07 PM
openjusticecop.bsky.social
Statutory wills

If anyone knows of any statutory will hearings coming up in the Court of Protection, please let me know. Some of us would especially like to observe them to understand what can go wrong.

#NotSecretCourt
August 11, 2025 at 9:23 PM
kitzingercelia.bsky.social
For anyone starting from the perspective that the court is corrupt and determined to hide its proceedings from public scrutiny, this whole experience looks like corroborating evidence.

#OpenJustice #NotSecretCourt

openjusticecourtofprotection.org/2025/06/29/s...
Silence from HHJ Rowland: A transparency fail
By Celia Kitzinger, 29th June 2025 It’s been more than 10 months since I applied to discharge the transparency order in a s.21A case concerning a woman in her 90s who was deprived of her liberty in…
openjusticecourtofprotection.org
June 30, 2025 at 3:12 PM
kitzingercelia.bsky.social
A powerful blog post from disability-rights activist and scholar @gillloomesquinn.bsky.social considering the role the Court of Protection can play in legitimating disability rights issues.

#OpenJustice #NotSecretCourt

openjusticecourtofprotection.org/2025/03/25/i...
“I’m making these orders not for my own amusement, but for P”: Judge admonishes professionals over “disappointing” failures
I observed the judge’s surprise and exasperation at the lack of progress in HMB’s case as performing a function of delegitimising and ‘calling out’ the situation…. Hearing such disapproval fr…
openjusticecourtofprotection.org
March 25, 2025 at 10:53 AM
kitzingercelia.bsky.social
My new blog post about a hearing before HHJ Burrows and a P stuck in hospital and hating it

#NotSecretCourt

openjusticecourtofprotection.org/2024/11/07/d...
Detention in hospital, capacity and treatment: Silent contributions from P in court
He’s been receiving inpatient hospital treatment for about the last two weeks for lower right leg cellulitis and osteomyelitis on his sacrum but will soon be medically fit for discharge.  He object…
openjusticecourtofprotection.org
November 7, 2024 at 9:32 AM
openjusticecop.bsky.social
**

We publish 2-3 blogs each week - mostly by members of public who've watched court hearings.

We also publish "explainer" blogs by legal + other professionals with experience of COP.

Here's one by @ianbrownhill.bsky.social

#NotSecretCourt

openjusticecourtofprotection.org/2024/01/17/a...
“An awful state”: Self-neglect and mental capacity
By Ian Brownhill, 17 January 2024 The description of a person being found in “an awful state” is one of the most common phrases than an adult social care lawyer will read. It is a description that …
openjusticecourtofprotection.org
November 28, 2024 at 6:37 PM
openjusticecop.bsky.social
Would you like to observe a remote hearing in the Court of Protection?

Find out how!

In one month - Claire and Amanda are running a free webinar all about it.

Email openjustice@yahoo.com to join in. All welcome.

#NotSecretCourt #OpenJustice
Ever wanted to observe a hearing in the Court of Protection? Come to our small friendly webinar on how to observe remotely (via video-link) from the comfort of your own home. Hosted by Claire and Amanda. It’s free and open to anyone – email us for more info (openjustice@yahoo.com) Or scan the QR code:
August 11, 2025 at 2:52 PM
openjusticecop.bsky.social
Insufficient evidence to rebut presumption of capacity due to failings of expert reports - unhappy judge + vulnerable person at risk.

Two contradictory capacity assessments - with no "workings out" to show why opinion changed.

#NotSecretCourt

openjusticecourtofprotection.org/2025/06/23/d...
“Does that mean I am off the hook?”: A successful s21a Deprivation of Liberty Challenge
By Claire Martin, 23rd June 2025 I had some unexpected time on Monday 16th June 2025, so I had a look at the listings the night before, and this one caught my eye because it said ‘FINAL HEARING’, s…
openjusticecourtofprotection.org
June 24, 2025 at 7:48 AM
amandaaphill.bsky.social
“It’s rare to hear barristers explicitly criticise the fairness of court proceedings - and in this case, I think she is right”.
This excellent blog by @clarkdaniel.bsky.social raises really important issues about the Court of Protection.
#NotSecretCourt
November 25, 2024 at 6:27 PM
amandaaphill.bsky.social
A thought provoking blog by @jennykitzinger.bsky.social . A desperately sad case, with the family appealing a decision by a judge in the Court of Protection. And reflections on whether the Court should have been involved at all.
#NotSecretCourt @openjusticecop.bsky.social
November 27, 2024 at 6:45 AM