Áine Hynes: The Assisted Decision-Making (Capacity) Act 2015 – What to Expect in Practice

Áine Hynes  -  Casey Photography 

This a summary of the presentation by Áine Hynes to the Legal Capacity Conference 2016 at University College Cork. The summary was written by Joanna Ralston.

More information on the Legal Capacity Conference - http://imhla.ie/events/.

Slides and videos from the conference –
http://www.ucc.ie/law/docs/mentalhealth/conferences/capacity-2016.shtml


Ms Áine Hynes is a Partner in St. John Solicitors, Dublin.  the title of her presentation was ‘The Assisted Decision-Making (Capacity) Act 2015 – What to Expect in Practice’. 

Ms Hynes was very positive about the Act and stated that she would not be surprised if the Act was commenced before the end of this year. Ms Hynes was of the view that there is no need to panic and that there is a very clear legal structure set out in the Act.

Ms Hynes outlined some of the more significant legal changes that the Act will introduce such as the abolition of the Ward of Court system, changes to the Powers of Attorney, advance healthcare directives and the role that the Director of the Decision Support Services will have when that person is appointed and the legislation is commenced.

Áine Hynes’ slides:
http://www.ucc.ie/law/docs/mentalhealth/conferences/13.00-Aine-Hynes.pdf

[Photos by Casey Photography]