A Patron’s Visit: Witnessing the Impact of Advocacy Focus
A message from our patron, Jake Mills. One of the highlights of my visit was spending a day at the...
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In July 2015 rules governing Deprivation of Liberty applications to the Court of Protection was changed for non-controversial cases the court was asked to address.
As a result of the Cheshire west ruling in 2014, the court has been inundated with applications to authorise people’s deprivation of liberty in community/domestic settings. To respond and meet the demand of the applications coming into the court arena it developed a streamlined paper procedure known as Re X to deal with the vast amount of cases being brought to the court.
As a result of the Re X streamlined procedure, this introduced the concept of a ‘Rule 1.2 Representative.’ (Formally Rule 3A Representative) Advocacy Focus act as Rule 1.2 Representatives for a number of individuals within the North West.
A 1.2 Representative is the name given by the court to a person who is able to consider whether from the perspective of individuals best interests you agree or do not agree that the Court should authorise the individuals package of care and support resulting in a deprivation of their liberty.
This is usually a family member, however in cases where the person has no family an Independent Advocate may be appointed as Rule 1.2 representative.
If a person is being deprived of their liberty in a domestic setting e.g. own home, supported living placement, shared lives etc. and lacks the capacity to consent to these arrangements, local authorities may need to apply to the Court of Protection to authorise the deprivation of liberty.
When doing so, the local authority will identify if the individual is suitable for the Re X streamline process, if the individual has a close relative, friend or Independent Advocate to get involved in this process to act as a Rule 1.2 Representative. Some individuals will not be suitable for Re X streamline process and will require a Litigation Friend.
Read more about Litigation Friend.
Key responsibilities of a Rule 1.2 Rep include:
Ahmed* is a 33 year old male who has a diagnosis of Autism. Ahmed was living at a shared property with two other residents and had a twenty four hour package of care. The staff that supported Ahmed had noticed that he was struggling to cope with sharing his home with the other residents as he was becoming increasingly anxious at their presence and appeared to be unhappy when his housemates were near him.
Please complete a Rule 1.2 Representative referral form.
To download a Rule 1.2 Representatives handy leaflet for family members, friends or significant others click here.
For more information about referring for a Rule 1.2 Rep contact us here:
Call us Advocacy Focus on: 0300 323 0965 or email: admin@advocacyfocus.org.uk
Make a referral