Secrecy in the Court of Protection? - a podcast by BBC Radio 4

How can a court decide that a young woman is to have medical treatment without her knowledge or that of her mother or guardian? The Court of Protection - which rules on cases involving 'protected' persons who lack the mental capacity to make decisions for themselves - sometimes holds 'closed hearings' that are secret to one or more of the parties, and to the public. Why are those hearings used, and can it ever be justified for the secrecy to lead to public misinformation?

The law now treats animals very differently than in the past. A new book describes how in medieval Europe, they could even be prosecuted - in one case, a pig was actually sentenced to death for the murder of a child.

But nowadays cases involving animals focus on their welfare. A campaigning organisation has been granted a court hearing to examine if the breeding of Britain’s fast-growing broiler chickens is detrimental to their health and welfare, and therefore in breach of the law.

Nearly 3000 prisoners are continuing to serve more than their original sentence - sometimes over a decade more - because they are subject to “Imprisonment for Public Protection”. Some have never been released, others have been recalled to prison, even though IPP sentences were abolished in 2012. The Justice Select Committee has now called on the Government to review these sentences, with the aim of release for most. Members of the House of Lords agree, saying this form of detention is unjust.

Presenter: Joshua Rozenberg
Producer: Arlene Gregorius
Researcher: Diane Richardson
Production coordinators: Maria Ogundele and Helena Warwick-Cross
Editor: Simon Watts

Further episodes of Law in Action

Further podcasts by BBC Radio 4

Website of BBC Radio 4