Author: Caroline

Mental Health Lawyers Association Courses in 2014

Mental Health Lawyers Association Courses in 2014

The association will be running a series of courses in 2014 in various locations around the country.

All courses carry CPD points, and will be run by leading mental health lawyers (including Mental Health Tribunal judges, Law Society MH panel assessors, Legal Aid Agency independent costs assessors and peer reviewers) by the MHLA for MHLA members. There will also be leading visiting speakers, including Psychiatrists and Barristers.

Long courses include:

2-day mandatory course for accreditation to the Law Society’s MH scheme.

This will be run at various locations throughout the year. The next one will be held on 12-13 February in Manchester

2-day Court of Protection course, 20-21 May, London

Short courses include:

Risk considerations for MHT and case preparation
27 May, Manchester
12 June, Leicester
16 October, Sussex
24 October, London

Psychiatric Diagnosis and medication
27 May, Manchester
12 June, Leicester
16 October, Sussex
24 October, London

Advocacy at Tribunal & Case preparation
25 March, Lewes
7 April, London
22 April, Bath
28 May, Manchester
5 August, Leicester

Case Law – The basics and Case Law – Restricted work
19 March, Lewes
22 April, Bath
28 May, Manchester
23 June, London
5 August, Leicester

Personal Safety
14 March, London
12 September, London

These courses will be between 1-4 hours long

We will also run some very short courses lasting no more than 1 hour on:

 EC1 Claims

 DVCVA

 Advance Decisions & the Code of Practice requirement for considering AD’s

 Transfer of patients within secure services

Further details about these courses, and how to make bookings, will be posted on the MHLA website in due course.

MHLA, NW Regional Meeting – 26th February, Manchester

All members are invited to the next meeting of the North West Area MHLA

Date: Wednesday, 26th February

Time: 4.30-6.00pm

Venue: Lincoln House Chambers, Tower 12, 18 – 22 Bridge Street, Manchester, M3 3BZ

Tel: 0161 832 5701. Please click here for location details.

CPD Points: 1.5

CPD Ref: 2647/MHTA

Topic: The current LAA Tender

There will be refreshments of tea, coffee and biscuits.

Please can you RSVP as soon as possible to Kathryn Gibson at KGibson@alfrednewton.com, so that we have an indication of numbers we are catering for.

The meeting is free and open to all MHLA members.

Mental Health and Immigration Detention Action Group

The Mental Health and Immigration Detention Action Group (MHIDAG) is a voluntary and unfunded group with a membership of lawyers, health professionals, ex-detainees and NGO workers.

The MHIDAG

•Is seriously concerned about the mental health of those held under Immigration Powers

•Considers that aspects of the current detention and healthcare policy and their current implementation are detrimental to the mental health of immigration detainees

•Will be marshalling evidence and submissions to influence a change for the better for both individual detainees and detainees as a whole

The MHIDAG works collaboratively through discussion and information exchange and through influencing external bodies.

The address for correspondence is Dr Hilary Pickles Medical Justice 86 Durham Road, London N7 7DT or hilary.pickles@brunel.ac.uk.

The group will be launching a report on 17th December about the treatment of people with mental health problems in immigration detention.

The Royal College of Psychiatrists’ has also issued a statement outlining its position on immigration detention. Please click here to view the statement. There have been four recent cases where people with mental health issues were found to have their Article 3 rights breached including the Das case. The claimant’s appeal was heard in the Court of Appeal in November and the judgment is awaited. Mind and Medical Justice intervened in that appeal.

The Royal College’s position statement makes some helpful and important observations about the serious difficulties of managing a person’s mental health care in an immigration removal centre and it also makes some observations about what is meant by serious mental illness and that this cannot be equated with the need for inpatient admission.

If anyone from the MHLA is interested in assisting the group with their work or would like more information then they should contact Dr Hilary Pickles who chairs the group.

‘Civil Legal Aid Online’ Engagement Events

The Legal Aid Agency is holding a series of ‘Civil Legal Aid Online’ engagement events which start next Monday (18 November).

The events are for those who will use the Client and Cost Management System (CCMS) from 20 January 2014 (organisations with names starting with the letters A-F and counsel).

The events are designed for Partners, Practice Managers, Chambers’ Managers and Clerks. However, organisations may wish other employees to attend.

Individuals can book a place via the EventBrite website: http://ccmslegalaid.eventbrite.co.uk

The system only takes individual – not block – bookings although more than one person can attend from any one organisation.

We are holding Webex sessions in December for those unable to attend.

If you have any questions about these events, please email: ccmstranche1@legalaid.gsi.gov.uk

Further details can be found here

Legal Aid: ‘Reject Fix’ facility for Escape Cases

The National Mental Health and Escape Case team has now extended the ‘Reject Fix’ facility to include Escape Cases. This facility is a method by which you can contact the Legal Aid Agency to submit details of claims you consider have been rejected incorrectly. The facility for Escape cases will open from Tuesday 28th August 2013 and you are requested that as much information be included in your submission in order that we can investigate the circumstances thoroughly. The email address for your submissions is laacivilclaimfix@legalaid.gsi.gov.uk