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Being a witness: I am a witness in court: a guide for people with learning disabilities
- Author:
- ENABLE Scotland
- Publisher:
- Scotland. Scottish Executive
- Publication year:
- 2006
- Pagination:
- 34p.
- Place of publication:
- Edinburgh
A booklet designed for people with learning difficulties about being a witness in court. The booklet describes what a witness is , the experience of going to court, and the roles of the different people in court. It also explains about the help available to someone with learning difficulties who is a witness and where to ask for help.
Being a witness: helping people with learning disabilities who go to court: a guide for carers
- Author:
- ENABLE Scotland
- Publisher:
- Scotland. Scottish Executive
- Publication year:
- 2006
- Pagination:
- 32p.
- Place of publication:
- Edinburgh
This booklet is aimed at carers and covers how to help adults with learning disabilities who have been asked to be a witness in a criminal court case or at a children’s hearing court case. An adult witness is someone aged 16 or over. It contains information that informal carers, care workers and advocacy or other staff may find useful before, during and after the court case. The court process and the people present are explained, and what a carer can do in advance, on the day and afterwards is outlined.
Excluded from citizenship? People with mental health vulnerabilities and the civil justice system in Scotland (Part 2)
- Author:
- PATRICK Hilary
- Journal article citation:
- SCOLAG Journal, 364, February 2008, pp.29-31.
- Publisher:
- ScoLAG(Scottish Legal Action Group)
This article considers the progress made by the Scottish Executive in reforming the court system to better meet the needs of people with mental vulnerability, in particular through the Vulnerable Witnesses (Scotland) Act 2004.
Accessing and maintaining legal representation for persons with mental disorder
- Author:
- STAVERT Jill
- Journal article citation:
- SCOLAG Journal, 393, July 2010, pp.143-147.
- Publisher:
- ScoLAG(Scottish Legal Action Group)
It is vital that a person with mental disorder has equal access to the law without discrimination, whether or not they have capacity. This article examines issues relating to mental disordered persons and legal service provision. In particular it considers the extent to which legal service provision should be provided, overseen and enforced by the state, and the extent to which the legal professional regulates itself nationally in terms of provision and quality of services. As well, as access to legal representation, the adequacy of the representation is also considered. The article describes international law standards from the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) and the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR). In terms of national professional standards in Scotland, it describes the guidance on non-discrimination from the Law Society of Scotland. The article concludes that international professional and human rights standards and guidance go some way to protect the interests of persons with mental illness and learning disabilities with relation to legal representation. However, these rights tend to focus on criminal cases and psychiatric detention where a person’s liberty is an issue, and are less clear when it comes to civil matters.
Excluded from citizenship? People with mental health vulnerabilities and the civil justice system in Scotland (Part 1)
- Author:
- PATRICK Hilary
- Journal article citation:
- SCOLAG Journal, 363, January 2008, pp.11-13.
- Publisher:
- ScoLAG(Scottish Legal Action Group)
This article look at how the civil justice system in Scotland responds to the needs of people living with mental vulnerabilities, learning disabilities and dementia. In particular it discusses how people with mental vulnerabilities gain access to good quality legal information, advice and assistance.
Mental health, incapacity and the law in Scotland
- Author:
- PATRICK Hilary
- Publisher:
- Tottel
- Publication year:
- 2006
- Pagination:
- 1022p.
- Place of publication:
- Haywards Heath
This is a guide to mental health law in Scotland, including the changes brought about by the Mental Health (Care and Treatment) (Scotland) Act 2003 and the Adults with Incapacity (Scotland) Act 2000. Mental health and incapacity law affect not just those subject to compulsory orders, but everyone with a mental health problem, dementia or a learning disability.This guide covers every aspect of mental health law, including tribunal procedure, procedures for adults with incapacity, community care, patients’ rights and legal remedies for when things go wrong.
How does the community care?: public attitudes to community care in Scotland
- Authors:
- CURTICE Lisa, PETCH Alison
- Publisher:
- Scotland. Scottish Executive. Social Research
- Publication year:
- 2002
- Pagination:
- 49p.
- Place of publication:
- Edinburgh
As part of the 2001 Scottish Social Attitudes Survey, the Scottish Executive funded a module of 40 questions on the attitudes of people in Scotland to a range of community care issues. Interviews were completed with 1605 individuals across Scotland. Three quarters of respondents felt comfortable about living next door to a frail older person and more than half about living next door to a person with a learning disability. Less than half, however, felt comfortable about living next door to a person with mental illness or with dementia. Respondents were strongly in favour of individuals with support needs living in the community rather than in care homes or hospitals. This view was most common for a person with a learning disability and least common (but still the majority) for a person with dementia. Most people interviewed thought that a person with a mental illness or a learning disability should not serve on a jury. Support needs, it was felt, should in the main be met by paid workers. The exception was for the person with a learning disability needing to be accompanied to a club where the potential contribution of family members and volunteers was cited. A substantial majority considered the funding of support to be the responsibility of the government. Respondents with personal experience of care were even more likely than others to take this view. There was strong support for individuals remaining within their own homes when this was their wish, even when this was a more expensive option. Only a fifth of respondents thought that those able to pay should be able to access better quality provision, suggesting strong support for equity. Respondents expressed a willingness to pay higher taxes to generate funds for increased expenditure on health, support for older people and pensions. The top priorities for additional government spending on older people were home helps, special housing provision, and district nurses.