Facts: the county court made an ex parte order under section 29(3) of the MHA 1983, displacing Mr London’s nearest relative. Mr London claimed that the court did not have jurisdiction to make such an order on an interim basis that, consequently, his detention had been unlawful.

Judgment: the Court of Appeal (Henry, Robert Walker and Stuart-Smith LJJ) held that the court did have jurisdiction to make an interim order displacing a nearest relative, by virtue of section 38 of the County Courts Act 1984 and, in any event, a hospital is bound to treat county court orders as validly made, so that a decision made to detain, on their basis, is lawful even if it transpires later that the orders were invalid. However, in the absence of cogent reasons, a final displacement decision should be made prior to any application for compulsory admission under section 3: where a person was being detained under section 2 of the MHA 1983, for assessment, that detention could be extended under section 29(4), until such time as displacement proceedings concluded.

Comment: see the Homerton case below para 19.50, which modified the approach here by determining that cogent reasons were not required for acting under section 3 before applying to displace a nearest relative.