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PI Brief Update

This Person Lacks Capacity… For What? Assessment of Capacity in Medico Legal Situations - Dr Karen Addy, Clinical Psychologist

13/02/12. The Mental Capacity Act 2005 sets out clear standards for the assessment of capacity for individuals engaging in medical treatment, financial affairs and court proceedings. The fundamental principles of the Act are as follows:

  • A person must be assumed to have capacity unless it is established that he lacks capacity.

  • A person is not to be treated as unable to make a decision unless all practicable steps to help him to do so have been taken without success.

  • A person is not to be treated as unable to make a decision merely because he makes an unwise decision.

  • An Act done or decision made, under this Act for or on behalf of a person who lacks capacity must be done, or made, in his best interests. 

  • Before the Act is done...

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All information on this site was believed to be correct by the relevant authors at the time of writing. All content is for information purposes only and is not intended as legal advice. No liability is accepted by either the publisher or the author(s) for any errors or omissions (whether negligent or not) that it may contain. 

The opinions expressed in the articles are the authors' own, not those of Law Brief Publishing Ltd, and are not necessarily commensurate with general legal or medico-legal expert consensus of opinion and/or literature. Any medical content is not exhaustive but at a level for the non-medical reader to understand. 

Professional advice should always be obtained before applying any information to particular circumstances.

Excerpts from judgments and statutes are Crown copyright. Any Crown Copyright material is reproduced with the permission of the Controller of OPSI and the Queen’s Printer for Scotland under the Open Government Licence.