Robert Robinson
Scott-Moncrieff Harbour & Sinclair
Who? Robert Robinson, 49-year-old mental health solicitor and consultant at Scott-Moncrieff Harbour & Sinclair in London.


Why is he in the news? Acts for Mr and Mrs Enderby, carers of an adult autistic patient, who won a landmark case in the European Court of Human Rights last week. The court ruled that doctors' common law powers to detain patients who are unable to communicate their dissent were in breach of the right to liberty under the European Convention on Human Rights. Where patients are detained under the common law rather than the Mental Health Act 1983, they are not entitled to appeal to a tribunal for their release. Newspapers have reported that the decision could affect as many as 50,000 people.



Background: Degree in politics, philosophy and economics at Oxford, graduating in 1976, then diploma of law at the Polytechnic of Central London, qualifying as a barrister in 1979. Spent five years in the Lord Chancellor's Department, then qualified as a solicitor with Armstrong & Co in London in 1988. Worked in North Islington Law Centre until 1992 when he joined his present firm, becoming partner in 1997 and more recently a consultant.



Route to the case: A referral from Mencap.



Thoughts on the case: 'This case will have wide implications, but those will become clearer once the government issues guidelines to hospitals, which I imagine will try to narrow down the scope of the judgment. It will affect people with dementia being held under the common law in psychiatric hospitals, but not nursing homes, and people with severe learning disabilities or mental impairment. My clients cared for Mr L in their home and had become very attached to him. When he was sectioned following a minor incident at a day-care centre, they fought to have him back. Mr L, who is unable to speak, read or write, was discharged in 1997 following a victory in the Court of Appeal. But the Department of Health then took the legal case further because of its significance.'



Dealing with the media: 'The media has wanted to report this in terms of the cost implications and the number of people that will be affected, rather than the legal issues, which has left me feeling frustrated. I don't know that 50,000 is an accurate figure for the number of people that will be affected.'