Ministers urged to reform AWI law for COVID-19 cases

Legislation to support the health and care sector in relation to adults with incapacity affected by the coronavirus has been proposed by the Law Society of Scotland.

Society President John Mulholland has written to Health Secretary Jeane Freeman with details of measures proposed by the Society's Mental Health & Disability Committee, which he states are "important to safeguard people affected by COVID-19 at this most challenging stage".  

The proposals include:

• amending s 1 of the Adults with Incapacity (Scotland) Act 2020 to ensure its protections, and the expectations of families affected, are maintained
• ways to expedite the registration of powers of attorney
• giving greater clarity and certainty to advance statements, including both persuasive statements and binding advance directives, to facilitate advance care planning
• amendments to help deal with applications for interim guardianship and intervention orders promptly, in particular interim guardianship orders, and to facilitate faster preparation of applications in a form that can be warranted on presentation to court.

The committee has drafted suggested amendments.

"We anticipate that some or all of these measures may be temporary", the President concludes. "However, they are important to safeguard people affected by COVID-19 at this most challenging stage."

View the letter and the technical note.