People who lack decision-making capacity

People who cannot understand information given to them and so to make decisions about themselves can find themselves caught up in the complexity of the immigration detention system. This lack of decision-making ability can apply to their medical and legal situation but also wider factors such as being able to understand day to day processes within detention centres including the practical steps needed to make appointments or understand how to connect with visitors.

It can be hard to identify people who lack decision-making capacity and so there is limited data on how often this issue arises in detention. AVID members have visited people where there have been concerns about the person’s decision-making capacity and who required a mental capacity assessment. This included visiting people with learning disabilities, mental illness and other capacity issues caused by stroke and dementia.