-
4 March 2024 - 5 March 2024
9:30 am - 5:30 pm
Important Information:
This is the MHLA’s ONLINE version of our Panel (Accreditation) course. The course will take place via Zoom from 9.30am to 5:30pm on 4th and 5th March 2024.
Booking closes at 9am on 19th February 2024 — when any unpaid registrations are automatically cancelled — or earlier, if all places are taken. Reservations are confirmed when full payment is received, if places are still available at that time. We anticipate very high demand, so prompt booking and payment are advised to avoid disappointment.
Panel coursebooks will be POSTED to delegates in advance via our print-on-demand service. We strongly advise that you book and make payment as promptly as possible to ensure that you receive the coursebook in advance of the course start date. Please confirm when booking which address we should use — this can be your home address or workplace.
Course Overview:
The Mental Health Lawyers Association is an approved provider of the two-day course which must be attended by prospective members of the Law Society’s accreditation scheme (formerly called the ‘panel’).
Ensure that you book your panel course directly with a provider which is approved by the Law Society. We have been made aware of a non-approved organisation which advertises many panel courses but which, for a large fee, merely books customers onto other providers’ courses. We will not accept such third-party bookings.
We strongly encourage new MH practitioners to also attend our Foundation course (although this is not compulsory) in order to benefit fully from the Panel course. Attendance at the Foundation course is strongly recommended in order to achieve a sound understanding of the basic principles of mental health law, practice and procedure and in order to achieve the most from the Panel course, which is a pre-requisite for application to The Law Society’s mental health panel.
The Legal Aid contract which commenced 1 August 2014 requires that all advocacy at Mental Health Tribunals be carried out by members of the Law Society’s accreditation scheme. Our presenters include Tribunal judges, Law Society assessors, LAA peer reviewers and costs assessors, and other experienced solicitors with a wealth of practical experience of representing patients at Mental Health Tribunals.
The course is supported by a c.300-page coursebook which is updated for each course. The coursebook contains over 200 pages of original content, plus several appendices (including the peer review guidance, the latest Law Society practice note, and recent MHT Practice Directions).
Topics include: The European Convention on Human Rights and mental health law, Civil sections and CTOs, Criminal detaining sections, Special considerations in restricted cases, Psychiatric information, Consent to treatment provisions, Nearest relative, Mandatory and discretionary references, Ethical and other conduct guidance, Interface between Mental Capacity Act 2005 and Mental Health Act 1983, Legal Aid, The Mental Health Tribunal and its Rules, Case preparation, and Advocacy.
The course has been held many times, in various cities, since 2011. Feedback from all of these courses has been excellent.
Cost:
MHLA members: £300
Group bookings: £270 (10% discount) for groups of three or more MHLA members
Non-members: £390
If you are unsure of your MHLA membership status, please email us at admin@mhla.co.uk.
Professional Development:
This course provides 12 hours structured PD for TLS Mental Health Accreditation Scheme. Professional Development Hours = 12. Reference: BYE/MHLA.
Certificates of attendance are issued to all who complete the full course.