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The future
 
The futureMental Capacity Act 2005 (MCA) ‘acts in connection with a person’s care or treatment’:overviewMental Capacity Act 2005 (MCA) ‘acts in connection with a person’s care or treatment’:future developmentsCodes of Practice:Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards (DOLS) Code of Practice to supplement the main Mental Capacity Act 2005 Code of Practice (2008)
3.236The Law Commission’s review of deprivation of liberty (noted at para 3.197 above) will also include proposals for amendments of other parts of the Act. In its provisional proposals, the Law Commission proposed amending section 4 so as to introduce (in essence) a presumption that a person’s identifiable wishes and feelings should be followed in the making of any best interests decision.1Law Commission, Mental Capacity and Deprivation of Liberty: A Consultation Paper (2015), chapter 12, available at: www.lawcom.gov.uk/project/mental-capacity-and-deprivation-of-liberty/. This proposal was suggested, in part, to bring the Act into greater compliance with the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (discussed further in chapter 25). In its interim statement published in May 2016 following consultation Law Commission also indicated that it was considering qualifying the ‘section 5 defence’ so as to provide additional procedural safeguards in respect of certain key decisions by public authorities.2Law Commission, Mental Capacity and Deprivation of Liberty: Interim Statement (May 2016), available at www.lawcom.gov.uk/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/mental_capacity_interim_statement.pdf. The Law Commission’s draft Bill will be published in March 2017; whether and when legislation will be placed before Parliament to take the Commission’s final proposals forward is at the time of writing unknown.
 
1     Law Commission, Mental Capacity and Deprivation of Liberty: A Consultation Paper (2015), chapter 12, available at: www.lawcom.gov.uk/project/mental-capacity-and-deprivation-of-liberty/. »
2     Law Commission, Mental Capacity and Deprivation of Liberty: Interim Statement (May 2016), available at www.lawcom.gov.uk/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/mental_capacity_interim_statement.pdf. »
The future
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