The High Court has set out how the Assisted Decision-Making (Capacity) Act should operate for a man whose pending wardship case is to be followed by his discharge into the new decision-support system.
VV, who has autism and an intellectual disability, is non-verbal and requires substantial assistance with daily life. The HSE began wardship proceedings in early 2023 after concerns arose over decisions concerning psychiatric medication. Because that application pre-dated commencement of the 2015 Act, the older wardship legislation remains applicable to his admission, but the HSE proposes that he then be immediately reviewed and discharged under the newer Act.
Mr Justice Conor Dignam said the current medical evidence establishes that VV lacks capacity to make decisions across all matters relating to personal welfare and property and affairs, even with assistance from a co-decision-maker.
The judgment does not itself finally admit or discharge VV. Instead, it resolves how the court should approach the forthcoming applications.
A central issue was whether decision-making support should be confined to matters requiring an immediate decision, such as healthcare, finances and family visits. The HSE argued that broader powers risked becoming unnecessary or disproportionate.
Dignam J rejected that narrow approach in VV’s circumstances. Once the evidence establishes a lack of capacity across the relevant areas, the court may make a declaration covering those areas and appoint a decision-making representative accordingly. Such an appointment does not restore the old wardship model because it remains governed by statutory duties of necessity, proportionality, respect for autonomy and minimal intervention.
However, the court said the representative’s order should not automatically include every conceivable statutory matter. If evidence shows that a particular type of decision will never, or is unlikely ever, to arise, that matter should be excluded.
The judge also held that if a medical visitor’s assessment were required, it should be a full functional capacity assessment rather than one restricted in advance to specified decisions. He noted that this issue has wider importance as all remaining wards must be discharged by 25 April 2026.