Mental Capacity Act

Mental Capacity Act (2005)

The Mental Capacity Act 2005, covering England and Wales, provides a statutory framework for people who lack capacity to make decisions for themselves, or who have capacity and want to make preparations for a time when they may lack capacity in the future. It sets out who can take decisions, in which situations, and how they should go about this.

The legal framework provided by the Act is supported by the Code of Practice, which provides guidance and information about how the Act works in practice. The Code has statutory force, which means that certain categories of people have a legal duty to have regard to it when working with or caring for adults who may lack capacity to make decisions for their self. The Mental Capacity Act created the Independent Mental Capacity Advocacy (IMCA) service. The 5 main principles of the Act are:

• The assumption that a person has capacity unless proved otherwise
• A person who lacks capacity should be supported to take part in decision making using all practicable steps
• A person is not to be treated as unable to make a decision merely because they make an unwise decision
• An act done or decision made must be in the person's best interests
• Consider the least restrictive alternative.