Mental Health Act disproportionately affects Black people
The Gazette and Company Insight carries Law Society analysis of statistics on the application of the Mental Health Act. Detention rates for Black British people were over four times those of white people, while Community Treatment Orders – which require a person to receive supervised treatment in the community – were used for Black British people at 11 times the rate of white people.
Law Society of England and Wales Vice President Nick Emmerson said: “These statistics show why reforming the Mental Health Act must be a priority for the government.”
Read our press release
Lawfare debate in parliament
Council member and Chair of our policy and regulatory affairs committee Jonathan Goldsmith discusses in the Gazette a debate in parliament on so-called ‘lawfare’ and the use of strategic lawsuits against public participation (SLAPPs).
Divorce spike
Financial Planning Today looks at the rise in financial vulnerability accompanying a spike in no-fault divorce applications. The article notes the Law Society has said the spike in divorce applications has also contributed to delays and backlogs in the civil courts.
Intersectionality and Black History Month
Jacqui Rhule-Dagher, a member of our LGBT+ Division, writes about Black History Month and intersectionality in The Lawyer.
Deepening crisis in civil justice
President Lubna Shuja wrote a letter to the Gazette’s editor on civil legal aid being widened, and the deepening crisis in the civil justice system.
“The number of family legal aid offices has more than halved over the past decade. Firms have been closing their legal aid departments year on year because it is no longer financially viable to do this type of work. There are widening advice deserts in housing legal aid and the number of providers with civil legal aid contracts has been falling.”
Also worth a read:
- Early advice pilot missed opportunities – Gazette
- Home Secretary accused of inflammatory language – BBC
- Inspirational Black lawyers – Legal Cheek