Assisted Decision-Making (Capacity) (Amendment) Bill 2022: Report and Final Stages
Dail Éireann — 2022-06-29
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Mark Ward (SF), Dublin Mid-West

We will be opposing this amendment as it gives a legislative basis to inherent jurisdiction. Inherent jurisdiction creates a loophole which allows the court to deny a person's legal capacity and makes decisions for them without following the rules of any specific legislation providing a specific basis for appeals or ensuring regular review. It allows the court to determine and forcibly treat people beyond what is permitted under the 2015 Act or the Mental Health Acts. In recent years, inherent jurisdiction has been used to make orders for the detention and transfer of people to other jurisdictions for treatment against their will and preference, including young people in psychiatric treatment and people with eating disorders, and has authorised unwanted surgery on pregnant women in prison.

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/dail/2022-06-29/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:50:54+00:00
Sitting date: 2022-06-29