Supreme Court ruling is “a major blow to the rights of disabled people”
The Supreme Court has ruled that disabled people aged 16 and over who lack capacity can be treated as consenting to their care arrangements, in a decision that applies across the UK.
Charities including Sense, Mencap, Mind and the National Autistic Society say the ruling weakens important human rights protections for hundreds of thousands of vulnerable people. More than 9,000 people in Northern Ireland could be affected, and the decision may lead to changes in care-related legal frameworks across the UK.
Harriet Edwards, Director of Influencing at the national disability charity Sense, said:
“This judgment is a major blow to the rights of disabled people with complex needs and risks reversing decades of progress.
“It raises serious concerns about the future rights of disabled people with complex needs and risks moving us further away from a social care system that empowers people to live with freedom, choice and control over their own lives.
“We are concerned that the Court has weakened the independent safeguards that play a vital role in protecting disabled people from abuse, neglect and inappropriate restrictions on their liberty.
“Disabled people with complex needs have the same right as everyone else to dignity, autonomy and control over their own lives. At a time when we should be building a more ambitious and inclusive adult social care system, this decision risks moving us in the wrong direction.
“We join the National Autistic Society, Mencap and Mind in calling on the UK Government to provide clarity to local authorities and care providers on how the rights of disabled people with complex needs can be strengthened and protected. As the implications of this judgment become clearer, it is essential that people’s rights and freedoms are not diluted and that robust safeguards remain in place.”
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