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30-728: Historically, states have recognised the need for representation of an incapacitated person when a benevolent relative or friend cannot be found to act on his behalf, this is the function of the Office of the Official Solicitor. The Official Solicitor becomes formally involved when appointed by the Court, and she can act as her own solicitor, or instruct a private firm of solicitors to represent her. The Official Solicitor has two main functions. Firstly, in England and Wales, her main function

60-408: A "significantly life-threatening event" for her and the foetus due to her having a very thin uterus. The court system of Gibraltar has a similar institution also called the Court of Protection, part of its Supreme Court . Public Trustee The public trustee is an office established pursuant to national (and, if applicable, state or territory) statute, to act as a trustee , usually when

90-767: A staff of a thousand. Meanwhile the idea was spreading, initially across the Tasman, where South Australia established a public trustee on the same model on 1 January 1881, making it the first public trustee established in Australia. The office of public trustee was adopted by several other countries of the Commonwealth , including the United Kingdom (founded 1906), where it plays a far more limited role, Sri Lanka , Hong Kong , Singapore , most Canadian provinces and all Australian states and territories. There

120-453: A sum is required to be deposited as security by legislation , if courts remove another trustee, or for estates if either no executor is named by will or the testator elects to name the public trustee. The first public trustee is that of New Zealand ; it was proposed by Edward Cephas John Stevens in 1870 due to the difficulty of finding reliable private trustees in the colony and adopted by Prime Minister Julius Vogel who established

150-427: Is a public trustee in each state and territory of Australia and a similar national position exists under English law . The public trustee primarily performs the role of trustee of deceased's estates where no executor is appointed, or the executor declines to act (and no other person is appropriate). Some public trustees also provide a free or inexpensive service for drawing wills (receiving remuneration upon administering

180-513: Is to represent children and adults who are incapable of representing themselves in various courts, including the Court of Protection . She also acts as last resort personal representative for the estate of a deceased person, or trustee of a trust. Secondly, in the area of international child protection obligations to which the UK government is a signatory, the Official Solicitor deals with cases brought under

210-689: The Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction through the International Child Abduction and Contact Unit (ICACU). In this capacity she deals with international child abduction and contact issues and handles maintenance enforcement in cases where one parent lives outside the UK through the Reciprocal Enforcement of Maintenance Orders Unit (REMO). The development of

240-730: The President of the Family Division ). The public trustee may also act as trustee of unclaimed property in some states (Australia). Although much reduced in size after a series of restructurings in the 1990s, and unsuccessful moves into conveyancing , unit trust -like investments and other non-core business, which led to large losses at the end of the decade, the office has now returned to profit. As at 2005 it held over 330,000 wills and drafted over 21,000 wills per year, managed 3,500 residential properties, 400 charitable trusts and 30 farms, employing 450 people at 35 offices. Public Trust

270-591: The Public Trust and installed Jonas Woodward as the world's first public trustee on January 1, 1873. Initially it was a part-time for position for one man, the government had not anticipated that much of the public would prefer to trust a bureaucrat with their estate – by the mid 20th century the New Zealand Public Trustee gained nearly one-third of the estate market in the country, was undertaking many statutory duties beyond this and employed

300-714: The Court was located in the Thomas More Building at the Royal Courts of Justice on the Strand, London . In 2014, it was relocated to First Avenue House, 42-49 High Holborn , London WC1A 9JA. As of April 2017, the President of the Court of Protection was Sir James Munby , who is also President of the Family Division , and the Vice-President was Sir William Charles . The Court of Protection has

330-822: The Lord Chancellor under the name of Official Solicitor to the Supreme Court . The offices of the Official Solicitor to the Senior Courts and the Public Trustee are now housed in one office building, but they continue to have separate functions. On 1 April 2007 the Official Solicitor and Public Trustee merged with the Court Funds Office to become the Offices of Court Funds, Official Solicitor and Public Trustee . This new organisation

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360-531: The Mental Capacity Act 2005. Among its various roles the Court of Protection is responsible for determining disputes as to the registration of enduring powers of attorney , and Lasting Powers of Attorney, appointing new trustees, appointing deputies to manage the affairs of persons who do not have the mental capacity to make the relevant decisions, authorising certain gifts and making statutory wills. Examples of personal welfare issues determined by

390-603: The Public Guardian are now entirely separate organisations with different responsibilities. The earlier Court of Protection dealt exclusively with financial matters, but the new Court of Protection was granted powers to deal with health and personal welfare issues, and has the same powers as the High Court of Justice . The Court of Protection's powers are defined by the Mental Capacity Act 2005 , and

420-463: The Supreme Court generally. Lord Chancellor Cairns by an order dated 7 February 1876 then appointed Henry Pemberton to be The Official Solicitor to the Supreme Court of Judicature. Episodes in which the Official Solicitor has intervened have generally arisen when there has been a legal stalemate. In 1921 the Official Solicitor intervened to arrange the release from prison of a female Labour councillor from Poplar who had been imprisoned along with most of

450-552: The court are decisions about where protected persons live, who they see and how they are cared for. Journalist Christopher Booker wrote a series of articles in The Daily Telegraph critical of the Court of Protection, calling it the "most sinister" and "most secretive" court in the United Kingdom. Booker reported several cases where elderly Britons were forced to hand over their assets to social workers and

480-406: The courts. The increasing workload of the Court over the period 2008 to 2012 led to lengthy delays in making decisions involving finances of subjects of the Court. The personal difficulties arising from such delays have led to criticism of the Court. In 2015, the Court of Protection ruled that a woman with six children and an IQ of 70 should be sterilised because another pregnancy would have been

510-426: The estate). The public trustees also manage the estates of infants (such as in cases where they receive a damages settlement), prisoners, and others under a disability (legal or otherwise), when required. In England and Wales since 1994 the property of someone dying intestate vests in the public trustee until a grant of letters of administration is made to an administrator or administrators (prior to 1994 it vested in

540-606: The first Justices of the Supreme Court. At the same time, the Supreme Court of England and Wales is renamed the Senior Courts of England and Wales , and the Official Solicitor to the Supreme Court became the Official Solicitor to the Senior Courts. The International Child Abduction and Contact Unit (ICACU) is the section of the Office of the Official Solicitor that is the Central Authority of England and Wales for international child abduction and contact issues under

570-649: The functions of the Official Solicitor can be traced back to the 18th century when the Office of the Six Clerks , which is mentioned in Samuel Pepys ’ Diary, assisted destitute litigants, lunatics and infants in Chancery suits and this form of support continued until the modern system of legal funding came into effect. In 1842, the Office of the Six Clerks was abolished by the Court of Chancery Act and John Johnson

600-579: The members of Poplar Borough Council , for having refused to raise the rates , arguing that the poor inhabitants of Poplar could not afford to pay any more. In 1972 the Official Solicitor, Norman Turner, broke a legal stalemate between the Trades Union Congress and the government known as the Pentonville Five case, in which five shop stewards from the dockers' union were imprisoned on a charge of contempt. The Official Solicitor

630-641: The original duties of the office of Solicitor to the Suitors' Fund had largely disappeared. The present office was created by an Order of the Lord Chancellor made on the 6 November 1875 with the approval of the Presidents of the newly constituted divisions of the High Court and of the Treasury, under the power given to him by Section 84 of the Supreme Court of Judicature Act 1873 to appoint officers to serve

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660-487: The person who is deemed to lack capacity. The power to appoint Deputies is granted by Sections 15 to 21 of the Mental Capacity Act 2005. Cardiff University noted that Deputies are most commonly appointed to deal with matters of property and finances, although the Mental Capacity Act 2005 allows for Deputies to make decisions on health and welfare. However, the Court of Protection either makes these decisions itself, and applications are often rejected under Sections 5 and 6 of

690-427: The power to decide if a person lacks capacity to make decisions for themselves, and then to decide what actions to take in the person's best interests. The Court has the power to adjudicate on deprivations of liberty , which includes depriving a person of liberty who is over 16, lacks capacity, and can be living at home. The Court of Protection has the power to appoint Deputies , who can make decisions on behalf of

720-608: The property, financial affairs and personal welfare of people who lack mental capacity to make decisions for themselves. The Court of Protection evolved from the Office of the Master in Lunacy , which was renamed the Court of Protection in 1947. Its jurisdiction derived from both the Lunacy Act 1890 and De Prerogativa Regis of 1324, which gave the monarch authority over the property of 'idiots' and 'lunatics'. The Court of Protection

750-543: The terms of the Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction and the European Convention on Recognition and Enforcement of Decisions Concerning Custody of Children and on Restoration of Custody of Children . Court of Protection The Court of Protection in English law is a superior court of record created under the Mental Capacity Act 2005 . It has jurisdiction over

780-596: Was also called upon by the Secretary of State for the Department of Trade and Industry to deal with the issue of pirate radio broadcasting by Radio Caroline . The present legal basis of the Office of the Official Solicitor dates from 1981 when, under s.90 of the Supreme Court Act 1981 , that the Official Solicitor became a statutory officer of the then- Supreme Court of England and Wales appointed by

810-703: Was an associated office of the Ministry of Justice . They were split up again on 1 April 2009. The new Supreme Court of the United Kingdom was established under the Constitutional Reform Act 2005 and came into effect in October 2009, separating the judicial and law-making functions of the House of Lords for the first time. In October 2009, the 12 Law Lords who hear appeals in Parliament became

840-604: Was appointed Solicitor to the Suitors’ Fund by the Lord Chancellor to represent ‘paupers, infants and lunatics’ where there was no ‘natural protector’. By an order dated 4 December 1871, Lord Chancellor Hatherley appointed Henry Pemberton to be the Official Solicitor to the High Court of Chancery in England and directed him to perform the duties formerly carried out by the Solicitor to the Suitors' Fund, although by 1875

870-426: Was established by order of the Lord Chancellor through the Mental Capacity Act 2005 (Commencement No. 2) Order 2007 . The rules of the Court of Protection were established by order of the President of the Family Division through The Court of Protection Rules 2007 . The offices and full-time Judges of the Court of Protection were originally located at Archway Tower , Junction Road, London. Since 9 January 2012,

900-491: Was responsible for overseeing the management and administration of the estates of individuals who were unable to manage their own affairs, by reason of unsoundness of mind or infirmity. It was an office of the Senior Courts of England and Wales , later governed by the Mental Health Act 1983 . At that time the old Court of Protection was part of the old Office of the Public Guardian ; the new Court of Protection and

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