DEPRIVATION OF LEGAL CAPACITY

That this House notes the comments of the Commissioner for Human Rights of the Council of Europe made on 20 February 2012 where he says that the policy of routinely depriving people of their legal capacity violates agreed human rights standards; further notes the unreliability of many of the assessments of capacity used in the courts of England and Wales; recognises that this statement indicates that the Strasbourg court is likely to conclude that such routine deprivations of capacity are now unlawful; further notes the substantial number of complaints about financial wrongdoing associated with such removals of capacity; and calls for the establishment of a review by Government and by Parliament of this aspect of jurisprudence.