Celia Kitzinger

Sue part-way over a stile (leaning forward with left leg extended behind her), on the wooded hillside of Great Mell Fell

And for my next trick ...
The operated knee - 40 days old - successfully navigates its first stile today, on Great Mell Fell #LakeDistrict
May not be elegant but definitely functional!
(Think @kitzingercelia.bsky.social might have been impressed)

Sandwiches while sheltering from 25-mph gusts of freezing wind! Cold but wonderful views on an exhilarating walk today.

Sue in turquoise jacket on top of Sale Fell, snowy peaks of Skiddaw range in the background

Sue on a rocky ridge looking out over Bassenthwaite Lake, to Ullock Pike and a snowy Skiddaw range on the other side

One of those - rare - blue sky days when it would have been rude not to get out! Sale Fell this morning #LakeDistrict
Pics by @kitzingercelia.bsky.social

Amy Reyes obituary Other lives: Music-loving teenager who was a consummate communicator, despite the restrictions imposed on her by Rett syndrome

It's a year since my extraordinary daughter died unexpectedly. Re-sharing her obituary because it matters so much that the world understands who children w/ SEND actually are - especially right now when their right to the support they need in education is at risk. www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle...

Well, just had to get up above the snowline today: Little Mell Fell. Thanks to @kitzingercelia.bsky.social for the video
#LakeDistrict

A Welsh white leopard? Litigation capacity in the absence of subject-matter capacity revisited

Whether you can have capacity to conduct proceedings about a decision you lack capacity to make is a question that infrequently, but consistently, troubles the Court of Protection.  Mostyn J once…

Attorneys, failures to consult and consequences

Cwm Taf Morgannwg University Health Board v RW & Anor EWCOP 10 (T3) provides a snapshot of the realities of navigating health and welfare decision-making of a kind that rarely makes it to court.  In short compass, it concerns a failure by a hospital…

Looking towards a snowy Blencathra, with - in the foreground - a snowy field to the left and a snow-capped fence to the right (taken early afternoon today)

Looking towards a snowy Skiddaw, with - in the foreground - a green field, backed by a row of trees (taken late afternoon today)

Cool and warm: Blencathra early afternoon and Skiddaw late afternoon today #LakeDistrict

How to vary the duration of a Transparency Order from “until further order of the court” to “until the death of P”: My family’s Court of Protection story continued By Amanda Hill, 12th February 2026 I am the daughter of a protected party in the Court of Protection. I can say that because at a hearing in March 2025, HHJ Murch approved my application to vary th…

New blog post

Daughter of P (@AmandaAPHill.bsky.social) wins right to refer to Court of Protection proceedings naming her mother without having to make a further application after her mother's death.

It shouldn't have been so hard!

openjusticecourtofprotection.org/2026/02/12/h...

And me too!

Small figure with hiking poles descending a rocky slope through the cloud near the summit of Binsey

Sue in wet weather gear at the trig point on the summit of Binsey - no views because of low cloud

Sue at the memorial to Quintin McKinnon on the McKinnon Pass - the highest point of the Milford Track (New Zealand). Bright blue sky behind (and one small patch of cloud)

Blue sky view of the McKinnon Pass, Milford Track, New Zealand. Vegetated foreground; small tarn in middle distance, with McKinnon memorial to the left of it; rocky peaks behind

Today: climbed 180m the to top of mighty Binsey (447m) in the rain and cloud, with my hiking buddy @kitzingercelia.bsky.social. #LakeDistrict
OTD a year ago: we climbed 610m to the McKinnon Pass - the highest point (at 1514m) on the Milford Track, in glorious sun. #NewZealand

“Contested Decision-making about Life-sustaining Treatment for adults after catastrophic brain injury”

Public lecture @ox.ac.uk by Prof Lynne Turner-Stokes. 19th March, 5.45pm

Further info + Register to get online link, or to reserve a seat in person:

www.gtc.ox.ac.uk/news-and-eve...

Great progress in week 4 of new knee! 10.5 hiking miles, and back on the fells. Began a new round of post-surgery Wainwrights (with @kitzingercelia.bsky.social). Summited #Latrigg on Wed and #Ling today. So happy! #nhs1000miles

Sue triumphant at the top of Latrigg: holding crossed hiking poles aloft. A moody sky, with views of Derwentwater and Catbells beyond

Sue walking on Latrigg, with late afternoon sun slanting behind her, across Derwentwater to Catbells, and beyond into Newlands Valley

Day 25 post-left-knee replacement - and I'm back on the fells! Yippee! Gorgeous light for my first Wainwright (of Round 4): the mighty Latrigg

Appealing a Court of Protection judgment This post offers a basic introduction to Court of Protection appeals. It covers (1) the general principles that govern appeals and why appeals fail at an early stage (2) the procedure for making an…

New blog post

How do appeals work in the Court of Protection - why do they fail, and how are they different from reconsiderations, or hearings after a material change in circumstance.

By Robert Sharp

openjusticecourtofprotection.org/2026/02/04/a...

progress for reporters on family court proceedings

Successful application to disapply Section 12(1) of the Administration of Justice Act: Making Polly’s statutory will application public If Polly had been through her car crash and hospital treatment and recovered sufficiently to analyse and present what had happened to her, then we believe she would have told her own story publicly…

New blog post by @kitzingercelia.bsky.social

Successful application to disapply Section 12(1) of the Administration of Justice Act: Making Polly’s statutory will application public

openjusticecourtofprotection.org/2026/01/18/s...

Stop referencing fake case citations, judges warned Practice risks embedding bogus 'authorities' as precedents, creating a growing body of misinformation.

Stop referencing fake case citations, judges warned

www.lawgazette.co.uk/news/stop-re...

Can we get this one over the line? 10k to go!

I'm told this was a listing error after all.

So now I've been told (a) it's been vacated; and (b) - on further enquiry - that it was wrongly listed and was not intended to be held "in private".

So, with apologies to @hmctsgovuk.bsky.social staff whose time this consumes - that's why I'll keep asking about "private" hearings.

Sisters in dispute about how best to care for their mother By Jenny Kitzinger, 11th January 2026 Caring for aging parents who have declining physical and mental capacity can lead to family conflict. There may be different understandings of what the parent …

New blog post by @jennykitzinger.bsky.social

Judge acts as mediator between two sisters in dispute about their mother's care...

openjusticecourtofprotection.org/2026/01/11/s...

Tuesday, 13 January 2026 Before DJ Barcello Gerbron Ei Anrhydedd Y Barnwr Barcello Amser Cychwyn/ Start Time Manylion yr Achos / Case Details 3pm 20024149 RCTCBC ~ RT Authorising A deprivation Of Liberty (In Relation To E.G Care And Residence Arrangements) / Awdurdodi Amddifadu O Ryddid (Yng Nghyswllt E.E Trefniadau Gofal A Phreswylio) T/E 1hr PRIVATE HEARING NOT OPEN TO PUBLIC Mae mynediad at gyfiawnder yn egwyddor hanfodol yn system y llysoedd a'r tribiwnlysoedd, a bydd hyn yn parhau wrth i ni ddatblygu technoleg sain a fideo. Nid yw Gwrandawiadau Datrys Anghydfod yn wrandawiadau a fynychir at ddibenion Cyfarwyddyd Ymarfer 4C. Dylid cyflwyno ceisiadau i arsylwi gwrandawiadau eraill (gan gynnwys y rhai hynny a nodir fel 'preifat o bell') i: CardiffCOP@Justice.gov.uk 0292 037 6486

There's a private hearing today in Pontypridd County Court. Someone is being deprived of their liberty - on the application (I think) of Rhondda Cynon Taf County Borough Council.

Following recent experiences in Wales, I'm concerned about private hearings there + will ask to observe.

Evidence of the need for marriage law reform in England and Wales where humanists cannot conduct legally binding marriages ⬇️

Herdies grazing below Skiddaw, with a ribbon of cloud below a scattering of snow

Bandaged left knee immediately post-op, with a calf compression cuff fitted

8 more hiking miles for #nhs1000miles this week (YTD 16 miles) + a new left knee yesterday! Might be rather fewer miles for the next few weeks …

A deputyship application gone astray What a mess!  The Court of Protection seems here (from what the daughter said, not contested by the judge) to have actively worked against P’s best interests.  It cannot possibly have been in his b…

What a shambles. P's bank account locked for nearly 4 years and care home fees unpaid (with his daughter being put under pressure to do something) after COP apparently lost a Deputyship application when a judge went off sick.

openjusticecourtofprotection.org/2026/01/06/a...

**

This is wonderful

A court that exceeds expectation.

A court that wants P not just to have "care and support" but also to be RADIANT - glowing, joyful, uplifted.

Sometimes a typo reveals what's often missing....

I only know what's in the blog post....

A deputyship application gone astray What a mess!  The Court of Protection seems here (from what the daughter said, not contested by the judge) to have actively worked against P’s best interests.  It cannot possibly have been in his b…

What a shambles. P's bank account locked for nearly 4 years and care home fees unpaid (with his daughter being put under pressure to do something) after COP apparently lost a Deputyship application when a judge went off sick.

openjusticecourtofprotection.org/2026/01/06/a...

None of these 90+ year old protected parties was in court. I doubt most of them even knew about the court case. I *really* don't want to be in this situation when I'm in my 80s or 90s but can't see how to avoid it.....