Mental health and justice

The notion of mental capacity has been traditionally employed to determine who has certain legal rights and responsibilities, and who can enter and transact legal relationships, often referred to as ‘legal capacity’. 

This project addresses the central dilemma in mental health, ethics and law: the tension between protecting and respecting a person’s decision-making. The team, with collaborators including clinical experts, lawyers, philosophers, neuroscientists and social scientists, are focusing on two fundamental concepts – support in decision-making and decision-making ability. The aims are to build an outstanding research network in the field of mental health, ethics and law for the next decade, and to provide new solutions to a vexed dilemma facing society, healthcare and law.