Celia Kitzinger
Promoting #OpenJustice in the Court of Protection #NotSecretCourt
Check out our website: openjusticecourtofprotection.org
Also all things Lake District + Cumbria including hiking, literature, & other stuff that interests me!
- I'm told this was a listing error after all.
- There's a private hearing today in Pontypridd County Court. Someone is being deprived of their liberty - on the application (I think) of Rhondda Cynon Taf County Borough Council. Following recent experiences in Wales, I'm concerned about private hearings there + will ask to observe.
- So now I've been told (a) it's been vacated; and (b) - on further enquiry - that it was wrongly listed and was not intended to be held "in private". So, with apologies to @hmctsgovuk.bsky.social staff whose time this consumes - that's why I'll keep asking about "private" hearings.
- ** This is wonderful A court that exceeds expectation. A court that wants P not just to have "care and support" but also to be RADIANT - glowing, joyful, uplifted. Sometimes a typo reveals what's often missing....
- What a shambles. P's bank account locked for nearly 4 years and care home fees unpaid (with his daughter being put under pressure to do something) after COP apparently lost a Deputyship application when a judge went off sick. openjusticecourtofprotection.org/2026/01/06/a...
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- I only know what's in the blog post....
- None of these 90+ year old protected parties was in court. I doubt most of them even knew about the court case. I *really* don't want to be in this situation when I'm in my 80s or 90s but can't see how to avoid it.....
- New blog post - five people in their 90s at the centre of COP hearings in December.... and @kitzingercelia.bsky.social ponders whether she can plan ahead to avoid being a P in her old age (and decides probably not). openjusticecourtofprotection.org/2026/01/04/l...
- Fleetwith Pike on Christmas Day
- This shocking case has generated lots of comments (scroll down to the bottom of the blog post. Thank you to everyone who has sent kind messages to Zoe. No family should be put through this kind of trauma.
- New blog post Systems-generated trauma and closed proceedings: Hywel Dda University Health Board v P & Anor [2024] EWCOP 70 (T3) openjusticecourtofprotection.org/2025/12/14/s...
- My (now) severely brain-injured sister Polly once drew an image of herself wrestling with complex vocabulary. It was pinned up over @jennykitzinger.bsky.social's desk for sisterly solidarity as she dealt with making a COP application for Polly. openjusticecourtofprotection.org/2025/12/09/a...
- Just a scattering of snow on Causey Pike this morning...
- Public observers disillusioned and dismayed by what they see in the Supreme Court. Not what judges hope for from open justice! openjusticecourtofprotection.org/2025/11/10/w...
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- I didn't observe Cheshire West in the SC but people who did say it was a very different experience, with Lady Hale at the helm. I *did* observe another COP case in the SC (Re JB on capacity for sex) - a much better experience. This was IMO an exceptionally "detached" case as a Reference.
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- So cute!
- This is what I'll be doing later today. Why not join us? It's not too late! Send an email to openjustice@yahoo.com and we'll send you the link. All welcome.
- Lady Rose's James Wood Lecture, delivered at the University of Glasgow yesterday: supremecourt.uk/uploads/spee...
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- So much to learn!
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- I observed a hearing in First Avenue House y'day after complaining about the missing lists and being sent them via email. Then I discovered the hearing I wanted was wrong on the list: one digit was altered (from 2 to 4) making electronic search impossible No wonder people think "conspiracy!"
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- Mine was cancelled today😩
- Back o Blencathra with sun, swirling mist, and curlews
- On October 2025, the UK Supreme Court will be asked to re-consider its judgment in a case commonly referred to as "Cheshire West". In this blog, @clarkdaniel.bsky.social explains the background to the case. openjusticecourtofprotection.org/2025/10/07/r...
- Yesterday's walk involved deer sightings and the eerie sound of the roaring of rutting stags - and also the summit of Angletarn Pike, our 112th (post-surgery) Wainwright
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- It was wonderful to see Norma in person at the memorial service for my father last year - and she gave a moving tribute. Of course I also knew her, and her work, as I was growing up + it was influential on my development as a feminist. Thank you Norma. www.asylum-welcome.org/uwe-kitzinger/
- Authenticity of a "living will" - my blog post for the Open Justice Court of Protection Project openjusticecourtofprotection.org/2025/09/20/a...
- ** Message to family members of P in the Court of Protection. If you are thinking about deliberately breeching a Transparency Order, *please* consider speaking to us at the Open Justice Court of Protection Project We might be able to help you vary/discharge the order so you don't risk prison.
- ** Today before Poole J After death of protected party, family seek extension of reporting restrictions, opposed by fiancee As intervenor, I supported open justice Massive thanks to Emma Sutton KC + Gemma McNeil Walsh for outstanding pro-bono representation www.bailii.org/ew/cases/EWC...
- Judgment should be handed down next week. I'll post a link to the judgment when it's published.
- I'm looking forward to this - starting in a couple of hours. It's not too late to book your place and come along!
- Two more Wainwrights to tick off this week - Great Bourne and Starling Dodd, under cloudy skies and with strong winds on the summits. Lovely hike up the waterfall gully from Ennerdale. That's 111/214 post-knee-surgery Wainwrights (and another 11 #NHS1000miles)
- ** This is now the standard response from the Official Solicitor when we request their Position Statement. Following the guidance in Poole J, the procedure is then to ask the judge (email or raise hand in court) to DIRECT the OS send their PS. Judges then do so.
- ** This is taking up quite a lot of court time (anything from 3min - 20mins) at taxpayers' expense. Many members of the public don't have confidence to pursue the matter after the OS says "no" - so altho' (for me) it feels like a ritual, for others it's a barrier to transparency. Any suggestions?
- The author of this piece is Maggie, whose partner has dementia. He is "deprived of his liberty" in hospital. Here she describes watching a case in the Court of Protection - where she worries she and her partner could be some time soon. Pleased to report, she found the judge rather wonderful.
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- That's us signing the marriage register in Vancouver 22 years ago (don't we look young!) - then us outside the Royal Courts of Justice a few years later, after the High Court judge refused recognition of our Canadian marriage in England 😢 + two more anniversary pics.
- Me looking across Wastwater yesterday - a stunning hike!
- Superb Sunday hike with @suewilkinson.bsky.social on the Mosedale Horseshoe (11 miles 1,630 metres), Wasdale Head, Black Sail Pass, Pillar, Scoat Fell, Steeple, Red Pike and (sting in the tail) Yewbarrow (lots of scrambling both up and down!). That's 5 more (post-knee-surgery) Wainwrights!
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- So are we. It did take us nearly 14 hours - leisurely walking with lots of rest and photo stops, and some challenging and time-consuming scrambling (especially down). Thank goodness for the long days. ☀️
- Evening swim in Wastwater
- Looking down Sour Milk Gill to Buttermere on the way up Red Pike with @suewilkinson.bsky.social yesterday. Walked along the fabulous ridge from Red Pike summit over High Stile and High Crag - so 3 new (post-knee-surgery) Wainwrights to bring our (post-surgery) total to 100. Yay!!
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- Barristers don't seem to be doing too badly in terms of pay! www.barcouncil.org.uk/static/ab5ab...
- Absolutely! You have my email address I think?
- A patient with “unusual” spiritual beliefs: Is withdrawing a feeding tube in his best interests? And why is he still in a specialist rehabilitation bed now that it's been determined he's in a "permanent vegetative state" + not in a care home? openjusticecourtofprotection.org/2025/08/08/a...
- Journalist @kirkkorner.bsky.social has written an account of this case based on the published judgment. uk.news.yahoo.com/life-support...
- Judgment now published - there's a link to it from the blog post.
- Four Wainwrights today on the Pasturebeck Round from Hartsop! #NHS1000miles.
- Blog post by family members - what happened to Joe's mother caught up in "futile" s.21A DOLS case? Multiple short-term standard authorisations + for a year “no signs by word or action of objections” to where she is living. #NotSecretCourt openjusticecourtofprotection.org/2025/08/07/a...
- This was a disturbing hearing to watch - and my blog raises more questions than answers. Was a court hearing really necessary (or appropriate) for this case? If it was, should the judge have adjourned as the OS requested to permit family to find legal representation?
- My impression is that this is a system that is not merely under-resourced and struggling, but one on the brink of collapse. Transparency puts a huge strain on an already over-burdened justice system. openjusticecourtofprotection.org/2025/07/29/a...
- Dinner at the Woolpack, Laurie Lee’s local, in Slad, the Gloucestershire village described in Cider with Rosie
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- Thanks for your help (you're in the acknowledgements!) openjusticecourtofprotection.org/2025/07/20/w...
- I've found this - which seems to suggest (see last para in particular) that COP *can* attach powers of arrest to an injunction but only if the judge can sit in the family jurisdiction as well (which I think the DJ could NOT). fieldcourt.co.uk/wp-content/u...
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- Thank you - that's very helpful. I've seen bench warrants before (for just the purpose you describe) but not Power of Arrest. My question is because the contemnor was arrested under Power of Arrest from DJ and HHJ says it was wrongful arrest as COP doesn't have that power.
