In this ‘in conversation’ with, I talk to Isabel Astrachan and Dr Scott Kim about the paper we recently published together looking at the ways in which the presumption of capacity in the Mental Capacity Act 2005 (and many other equivalent legislative frameworks in other countries) can be misunderstood, and why ‘suspending’ the presumption in the face of legitimate reason to be concerned about a person’s ability to make a decision is not only the legally, but also the ethically correct thing to do.

For the original video, see here.

The paper we discuss was published in the Journal of Medical Ethics in September 2023, Questioning our presumptions about the presumption of capacity. (If you are not able to access it, please email me at [email protected]).