Gus Harrison, Judy Laing, Sheelagh McGuinness, and Patty Miranda
Setting the stage: six years of the BABEL project
Read the original blog post on University of Bristol Law School Blog
The Wellcome funded BABEL project at the University of Bristol has, for the last six years, been exploring best interests decision making for adults and children in England and Wales. The collaborative project started in 2019 and involved several different work strands with researchers based in the Centre for Health, Law, and Society (CHLS) and the Centre for Ethics in Medicine. The law work strand, based in the CHLS at the Law School, focused on best interests decision making in law. The law research team – Judy Laing, Sheelagh McGuinness, and Aoife Finnerty – carried out empirical research with legal practitioners to find out their views about this branch of legal decision-making.
The interviews generated some fascinating insights into their daily work and was the inspiration for a BABEL funded engagement event (with support from CHLS and Martha Scanlon, a former BABEL funded PhD student) that took place in the Law School on 4th February 2025. The employability and networking event on ‘Inspiring the next generation of social welfare lawyers’ was attended by over 50 undergraduate and postgraduate law and social sciences students, who came along to listen to our panel of excellent speakers.
‘A fascinating area of law’
The panel included local barristers and solicitors, as well as advocates who work daily to support people affected by mental capacity and mental health law. The audience were moved by the personal reflections and insights of the panel who spoke about their work in protecting the rights of persons who lie at the heart of mental capacity law decision making. A recurring theme in the discussion was the emotional intensity of working in this area of law.
As the BABEL law research has explored, many professionals deal with complex and challenging cases involving life-altering decisions, forced medical interventions, and other ethical dilemmas. Speaker, Emma Sutton KC explained: “The Court of Protection is a fascinating area of law because cases are complex, deeply personal, and constantly evolving. You’re not just working with statutes. You’re working with real people, their lives, and their rights.” Stuart Marchant of Bevan Brittan also shared his experiences of working on some high-profile and deeply emotive cases in the Court of Protection – which is both hugely rewarding and emotionally challenging.
One of the most striking aspects of the presentations was the emphasis on making legal processes more inclusive and the personal motivations of the speakers to make a positive difference to the lives of vulnerable people. Speakers emphasised how legal language, overly bureaucratic systems and red tape, and ingrained medical paternalism can silence those with firsthand knowledge and lived experience. Jess Flanagan was motivated by these injustices to develop her legal practice in this field, which coincided with the introduction of the new legal framework for best interests decision making in the Mental Capacity Act 2005 (MCA). During that time, the jurisprudence of the Court of Protection has evolved significantly.
Drawing on cases she has been directly involved with in her legal practice, Jess described how legal practitioners can play an important part in helping to shape some of those legal norms and processes. Legal and advocacy professionals must continue to work to centre the voices of those most affected, which begins with trusting and valuing the lived experiences of those directly impacted by health and other inequalities. As Heledd Wyn, (a Bristol alumnus from Rothley Law) described: “So much of what we do as lawyers and advocates is about making sure people know their rights. If people don’t know what they’re entitled to, they can’t challenge decisions. And that’s when injustice happens.”
People at the heart of advocacy; the centre of every decision
Legal perspectives were followed by personal and professional accounts from advocates about their work in supporting people subject to mental health and capacity law. Gus Harrison, a former LLB and LLM student at the University of Bristol who now works as an Independent Mental Health Advocate (IMHA) at POhWER shared his journey into mental health law, reflecting on how his Bristol LLM studies in Health, Law, and Society helped to shape his decision to pursue advocacy. He highlighted the challenges of translating legal academia into practice, particularly in navigating tensions between paternalism, patient rights, and patient welfare. Emphasising the vital role of advocates, Gus spoke about the importance of ensuring that individuals are aware of their rights and have a voice in decisions affecting their lives.
Two members of Swindon Advocacy Movement (SAM) working as Independent Mental Capacity Advocates (IMCAs) – Padraig Gaffney and Harry Bryant – emphasised how important it is to put the individual at the heart of advocacy. They shared their personal journeys into advocacy, reflecting on their motivations to helping people. Central to their work is the need to ensure that individual voices are heard and that their choices and preferences are at the forefront of decision-making.
Concluding the talks, the audience was left with a key message about the essence of social welfare law: placing the person at the centre of every decision. And with some words of wisdom from the panel on how students can pursue their career aspirations and make a difference in this field of law: the key message was to be inquisitive, enthusiastic, and passionate, and to grab all the opportunities that come your way.
BABEL/Law Clinic/SAM Mental Capacity Act 2005 explainers
The event provided a timely and exciting opportunity to launch a series of explainers on the Mental Capacity Act 2005 (MCA) which also stemmed from the BABEL law work stream research. Working in collaboration with BABEL law workstream researchers, the University of Bristol Law Clinic and SAM, two student interns – Patty Miranda, a current PhD student and former Wellcome-funded LLM student, and Gus Harrison a former LLB and LLM student at the University of Bristol – developed a series of 4 explainers for SAM on mental capacity law.
Each explainer focuses on a different part of the MCA which SAM identified as integral in their daily work, namely: The role of Independent Mental Capacity Advocates; The Court of Protection; Best interests decision making in the MCA; and s21A MCA and Deprivation of Liberty. The explainers are designed to help guide advocates in their important work to empower people with autism, learning difficulties, and dementia to stand up for their rights and to enable their voices to be heard in decision making under the MCA. Public legal education like this plays a critical role to develop legal literacy in navigating complex legal systems and ensure that people understand and are able to exercise their legal rights and agency.
Gus has found it hugely “rewarding to make the law more accessible to others.” And Patty shared her reflections on the whole experience: “Mental health law and advocacy are growing fields that bring together legal expertise and a commitment to human rights. Lawyers and advocates in this space do more than just argue cases – they shape legal and policy frameworks, shed light on and challenge unfair systems, and work with families and communities to push for real change. Working on SAM’s explainers and listening to the speakers’ personal and career highlights at the launch event, truly brought this home for me.”
Finally, Jackie Sillett, IMCA team lead at SAM, highlighted the significance of the explainers for their daily advocacy work: “These explainers will be an invaluable tool for our advocates. They provide clear, concise guidance that will help us better support individuals who face challenges in asserting their rights under the Mental Capacity Act.
For more information about the important work that Babel carries out visit here.
