SF v Avon & Wiltshire Mental Health Partnership NHS Trust & Anor
[2023] UKUT 205 (AAC)
PQR v Derbyshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust
11 August 2023
[2023] UKUT 195 (AAC)
Upper Tribunal
Someone challenged a mental health order saying part of it was done wrong. The judge said the right place to challenge it wasn't the mental health tribunal, but a regular court. Even if the earlier part was wrong, the order stayed in effect until a court says otherwise.
Key Facts
- •PQR, diagnosed with schizophrenia, had a community treatment order (CTO) extended multiple times, including an initial extension in 2020 via a telephone examination due to the pandemic.
- •PQR argued that the 2020 telephone examination was invalid under the Mental Health Act 1983, rendering subsequent CTO extensions invalid.
- •The First-tier Tribunal (FTT) ruled it lacked jurisdiction to determine the validity of the CTO but would have found the examination compliant if it had jurisdiction.
- •PQR appealed to the Upper Tribunal (UT), arguing the FTT erred in law.
Legal Principles
A tribunal cannot deal with an academic issue if it lacks jurisdiction to address the underlying matter.
Secretary of State for Work and Pensions v Robertson [2015] CSIH 82 at [42]-[45]
Unlawful administrative acts may have legal effect unless and until set aside by a competent court or tribunal.
R (Majera (formerly SM (Rwanda))) v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2022] AC 461 at [27]-[42]
The Mental Health Act 1983 tribunals have no power to consider the validity of an admission (under section 3) or a CTO extension that gave rise to the liability to be detained.
Ex parte Waldron [1986] QB 824 and R (von Brandenburg) v East London and the City Mental Health NHS Trust [2004] 2 AC 280
Outcomes
The Upper Tribunal upheld the First-tier Tribunal's decision.
The FTT correctly determined it lacked jurisdiction to rule on the validity of the CTO. Even if the 2020 examination was invalid, the subsequent actions had legal effect until challenged in a court with appropriate jurisdiction. The tribunal’s powers are limited to discharging a patient, not ruling on the validity of the CTO’s existence.
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Derbyshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust v Secretary of State for Health and Social Care & Ors
[2023] EWHC 3182 (Admin)