Consent to Treatment and Criminal Responsibility in the Mentally Ill

Abstract

With more and more people surviving into their 80s and 90s inevitably more will be suffering from dementia in their later years. A decision by the High Court last month should make it easier for elderly people whose mental powers are declining to arrange for someone they trust to handle their affairs on their behalf. The two cases, referred to the High Court by the Court of Protection, highlight a common problem for the families of elderly people whose faculties are dimmed by age: by the time it occurs to the family that some means of managing the aged relative's property and affairs may be necessary his or her mental capacity may already be in doubt.