Facts: X was in his 60s and had long-standing mental health problems. He had been detained under section 3 of the MHA 1983. The First-tier Tribunal decided not to discharge him. Then, the independent panel appointed by the NHS Foundation Trust to exercise its powers under section 23 of the MHA 1983 decided to discharge him. The NHS Foundation Trust sought a judicial review of that decision.

Judgment: Cranston J held that the independent panel was sufficiently separate from the NHS Foundation Trust to be amenable to judicial review at the suit of the Trust but that its decision had been lawful – the First-tier Tribunal’s decision had simply not been, under the relevant statutory machinery, a relevant consideration that the independent panel had been required to consider, let alone follow, and its decision had been rational on the evidence before it.