Jill Stavert
Jill Stavert

Prof Jill Stavert

Professor

 0131 455 4553

  J.Stavert@napier.ac.uk

   

Biography

I am a Professor of Mental Health and Capacity Law situated within our School of Health and Social Care, and lead the university's interdisciplinary Centre for Mental Health Practice, Policy and Law Research (CMHPPLR). I also founded in 2013 and led the Centre for Mental Health and Capacity Law, which is now a CMHPPLR unit.

My areas of research, expertise and training/teaching are international, European and national human rights and mental health and mental capacity law and related law, policy and practice review and reform. I am particularly interested in decision-making and supported decision-making, achieving the right to the highest attainable standard of mental health, alternatives to coercive psychiatric treatment and other non-consensual interventions, and law and policy reform, lived experience experiences, equality and intersectionality (persons experiencing discrimination because of a number of different characteristics) issues and institutional, judicial and state responses in these areas. It is essential that law, policy and practice and related research works meaningfully and effectively for those who are subject to it.

I work with a number of public and voluntary sector organisations and bodies and regulatory bodies in the field of mental health, mental capacity and/or human rights. I regularly publish and speak/present at conferences and seminars .

My recent work has included/includes:

1. Law and policy reform - I am currently a member of the Scottish Mental Health Law Review (Scott Review) Executive Team and lead the Review's Capacity and Support for Decision-Making workstream. I was previously an expert advisor to the Scottish Independent Review of Learning Disability and Autism in the Mental Health Act and a member of the Deprivation of Liberty and Supported Decision-Making Working Groups in the Scottish Government review of the Adults with Incapacity (Scotland) Act.
2. Stakeholder experiences of the Mental Health Tribunal for Scotland.
3. Accommodations for persons living with dementia in the workplace.
4. The impact of COVID-19 and related restrictions on law, policy and practice relating to persons with mental disabilities.

The rights of, and law relating to, persons with mental health and mental capacity do not exist within disciplinary silos and requires a strong inter-disciplinary approach. This is why I am based in the School of Health and Social Care but at the same time have strong links with the Law Subject Group in the Business School and with external academics and stakeholders.

I am a council member of the Scottish Universities Law Institute, and a member of the Organising Committee of the UK and Ireland Mental Diversity Law Network, the Berkeley Center on Comparative Equality and Anti-Discrimination Law and the International Guardianship Network.

I very much welcome enquiries and applications from potential Ph.D candidates relating to my research interests.

School

Research Groups

Themes

Research Areas

Events

Esteem

Advisory panels and expert committees or witness

  • Scottish Covid-19 Public Inquiry
  • Scottish Parliament COVID-19 Academic Expert
  • Scrutiny advisory group on (COVID-19) emergency powers relating to Mental Health (Care and Treatment)(Scotland) Act 2003
  • Scottish Government Adults with Incapacity Emergency Legislation Commencement Consideration Group
  • Scottish Parliament Equality and Human Rights Committee
  • Edinburgh Health and Social Care Partnership Rights in Mind Expert Group
  • Legal expert to the Independent Review of Learning Disability and Autism in the Mental Health Act (Rome Review)
  • Member of Independent Mental Health Law Review Executive Team (the Scott Review)
  • Scottish Government Supported Decision-Making Working Group
  • Independent Review of learning disability and autism in the Mental Health Act Law and Policy Advisory Group
  • Scottish Government Deprivation of Liberty (Adults with Incapacity (Scotland) Act reform) Working Group
  • 'The Adults with Incapacity (Scotland) Act 2000: Strategies of Support and Safeguarding' at 'Operationalising Art 12.4 safeguards in the three jurisdictions of the United Kingdon, before the UN Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, Geneva
  • Organising Committee UK and Ireland Mental Diversity Law Network
  • UK and Ireland Mental Diversity Law Network Organising Committee
  • Invited to give evidence, Scottish Parliament Health and Sport Committee
  • Member of Human Rights and Public Policy Committee, Alzheimer Scotland
  • Member of Scottish Government Mental Health (Scotland) Act 2015 Implementation Steering Group.
  • Board Member, Scottish Independent Advocacy Alliance
  • Member of Advisory Panel to Alzheimer Scotland for Nuffield Foundation funded project Dementia: autonomy and decision-making. Principles into Practice.
  • Member of National Advisory Committee, Mental Welfare Commission for Scotland
  • Member of Executive Committee, representing Edinburgh Napier University, of the Scottish Constitutional Futures Forum (a joint initiative between Scottish university Law Schools)
  • Member of Research Advisory Group at Scottish Human Rights Commission.
  • Member of Mental Health and Disability Sub-Committee of the Law Society of Scotland
  • Member of South East Scotland Research Ethics Committee 1

 

Conference Organising Activity

  • Edinburgh Rights Based Care Partnership Human Rights Symposium
  • Invited to deliver workshop 'Application of law, equality and human rights for workers with dementia', STUC/Age Scotland Conference 'Dementia and the Workplace'
  • Session organiser, Implementing the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities at National Level, at International Academy of Law and Mental Health Congress, Vienna
  • UK & Ireland Mental Diversity Law Conference Organising Committee
  • Chair at Seminar Borderline Personality Disorder and Self-Harm (considering how public services and professionals can respond more effectively to the issue using a user and rights centred perspective), a joint initiative between Perth and Kinross Council

 

Editorial Activity

  • Joint editor and contributor for Scotland, Mental Capacity Law Newsletter
  • Editor, International Journal of Mental Health and Capacity Law
  • Editor, Juridical Review

 

External Examining/Validations

  • External Examiner, University of Edinburgh, Mental Health Law Masters
  • Ph.D Examination - Queensland University of Technology
  • Ph.D First Year Examination - University of Cambridge
  • External Examiner LLB(Hons) programme, School of Law, University of Edinburgh
  • Ph.D Examination - University of Melbourne
  • Ph.D Examination - University of Nottingham
  • External Examiner LLM Mental Health Law Northumbria University
  • External Examiner for Robert Gordon University on LLM programmes.

 

Grant Funding Panel Member

  • Doctoral Programme in Law (funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under the Marie Skłodowska-Curie grant agreement), University of Eastern Finland

 

Grant Reviewer

  • Peer review, ESRC UKRI
  • Peer review, Chief Scientist Office, Scotland, Scottish Clinical Academic Training Fellowships
  • Peer review, Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research (Dutch Research Council)

 

Invited Speaker

  • The Impact of COVID-19 on Mental Health and Capacity Law and Practice , Legal Services Agency webinar
  • Human rights developments and myth-busting, Edinburgh Rights Based Care Partnership Symposium
  • Invited participant: ' Supported Decision-Making in Socio-Legal Context' workshop at International Institute for the Sociology of Law, Onati, Spain
  • The Role of Mental Health Tribunals in a CRPD-compliant World, IALMH 2019, Rome
  • Supported decision-making and paradigm shifts: avoiding replacing the old with the old
  • The Mental Health Tribunal for Scotland: the Views and Experiences of Patients, Named Persons, Practitioners and Tribunal Panel members, IALMH 2019, Rome
  • Invited participant in Workshop 'Disability and (Virtual) Institutions?: Interventions, Integration and Inclusion', International Institute for the Sociology of Law, Onati, Spain
  • Invited paper, 'UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and its implications for adults with incapacity law', The Future of Guardianship, Legal Services Agency, Glasgow,
  • 'Support for the exercise of legal capacity in the three jurisdictions of the UK', Three Jurisdictions Project Final Report Launch, Institute of Government, London
  • ‘The Adults with Incapacity (Scotland) Act 2000: Strategies of Support and Safeguarding’, Operationalising Article 12.4 safeguards in the three jurisdictions of the United Kingdom, UN Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, Geneva
  • Invited paper 'The Perimeters of Restriction: Law, Rights and Autonomy in Forensic Mental Health Settings',The Royal College of Psychiatrists in Scotland, Dunblane
  • 'Supporting and extending the exercise of legal capcity', SASW Mental Health Officer Forum Annual Study Day, Perth
  • Invited paper 'Deprivation of Liberty', Law Society of Scotland Guardianship and Intervention Conference
  • 'Deprivation of LIberty', Fife Council MHOs Development Day
  • Deprivation of liberty, Conference, Queen Mary University of London.
  • Chair and discussant, Scottish Law Commission Report on Adults with Incapacity, Legal Services Agency Adults with Incapacity Conference
  • Invited speaker, ‘Decision making in complex cases’, Alzheimer Scotland Conference “Dementia: decision making”, Edinburgh.
  • Invited speaker, ‘Deprivation of Liberty, National Preventive Mechanism Annual Meeting, Edinburgh
  • Invited speaker, ‘Deprivation of liberty ECHR and other human rights themes that are/ are not developing post-Scottish Law Commission report’, Law Society of Scotland Mental Health and Incapacity Conference, Glasgow.
  • Invited speaker, ‘UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and Dementia’, Alzheimer Europe, European Parliament

 

Membership of Professional Body

  • International Guardianship Network

 

Non-executive Directorship

  • Director, WCAC 2022 LIMITED
  • Board Member, Scottish Independent Advocacy Alliance
  • Council Member, Scottish Universities Law Institute

 

Reviewing

  • Laws
  • Reviewer, International Journal of Law and Psychiatry
  • Reviewer, Journal of Psychiatry and Mental Health Nursing
  • Reviewer, Medical Law International

 

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59 results

People with Learning Disability: Scotland and Beyond

Book Chapter
Stavert, J. (2023)
People with Learning Disability: Scotland and Beyond. In B. D. Kelly, & M. Donnelly (Eds.), Routledge Handbook of Mental Health Law (166-178). Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003226413
‘Learning disability’ is currently included in the statutory definition of ‘mental disorder’ used by Scottish capacity and mental health legislation, along with mental illness...

Scottish Mental Health Law Review: Final Report

Report
McKay, C., Stavert, J., Scott, J., Martin, K., Rankin, A., & Morgan, G. (2022)
Scottish Mental Health Law Review: Final Report. Scottish Government
Report commissioned by Scottish Ministers to review Scottish mental health, capacity and adult protection law, to improve the rights and protections of persons with a mental d...

The Mental Health Tribunal for Scotland: the views and experiences of Patients, Named Persons, Practitioners and Mental Health Tribunal for Scotland members

Report
Stavert, J., Brown, M. J., & McDonald, A. (2022)
The Mental Health Tribunal for Scotland: the views and experiences of Patients, Named Persons, Practitioners and Mental Health Tribunal for Scotland members. Nuffield Foundation

Giving effect to Article 12 Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities in Scottish law, Policy and Practice: What Might or Does it Look Like?

Presentation / Conference
Stavert, J. (2022, July)
Giving effect to Article 12 Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities in Scottish law, Policy and Practice: What Might or Does it Look Like?. Paper presented at International Academy of Law and Mental Health International Congress 2022, Lyon

Adapting or Discarding the Status Quo? Supporting the Exercise of Legal Capacity in Scottish Law and Practice

Book Chapter
Stavert, J. (2022)
Adapting or Discarding the Status Quo? Supporting the Exercise of Legal Capacity in Scottish Law and Practice. In M. Donnelly, R. Harding, & E. Tascioglu (Eds.), Supporting Legal Capacity in Socio-Legal Context. Hart Publishing

Supported Decision-Making and Paradigm Shifts: Word Play or Real Change?

Journal Article
Stavert, J. (2021)
Supported Decision-Making and Paradigm Shifts: Word Play or Real Change?. Frontiers in Psychiatry, 11, https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyt.2020.571005
Article 12(3) CRPD requires states parties to provide access by persons with disabilities to the support they may require in exercising their legal capacity. This is to ensure...

Dementia, Work and Employability: Using the Capability Approach to Understand the Employability Potential for People Living with Dementia

Journal Article
Ritchie, L., Egdell, V., Danson, M., Cook, M., Stavert, J., & Tolson, D. (2022)
Dementia, Work and Employability: Using the Capability Approach to Understand the Employability Potential for People Living with Dementia. Work, Employment and Society, 36(4), 591-609. https://doi.org/10.1177/0950017020961929
The importance of remaining in, or re-entering, the labour market is emphasised by governments internationally. While this may bring benefits, progressive disabilities such as...

Mental health advance statements: crossing the divide from clinical to law enforcement settings

Journal Article
Stavert, J. (2021)
Mental health advance statements: crossing the divide from clinical to law enforcement settings. Journal of Psychiatric and Mental Health Nursing, 28(1), 102-106. https://doi.org/10.1111/jpm.12695
It is clear that police in many jurisdictions are increasingly being called out to situations involving persons with mental distress. In Scotland, for example, notifications o...

Respecting the autonomy of the living and dying

Journal Article
Stavert, J. (2020)
Respecting the autonomy of the living and dying. Journal of Integrated Care, 28(4), 379-385. https://doi.org/10.1108/JICA-06-2020-0038
Purpose To inform those who are supporting persons who are dying and are responsible for planning, commissioning or delivering palliative care about the need to support and ma...

Scottish Mental Health and Capacity Law: Replacing the Old with the New or the Old in Policy, Law and Practice?

Book Chapter
Stavert, J. (2020)
Scottish Mental Health and Capacity Law: Replacing the Old with the New or the Old in Policy, Law and Practice?. In P. Weller, L. Steele, & C. Spivakovsky (Eds.), The Legacies of Institutionalisation: Disability, Law and Policy in the ‘Deinstitutionalised’ Community. Hart Publishing
When enacted Scottish capacity and mental health legislation was internationally regarded as world leading in terms of presenting human rights-based approaches to intervention...

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