Mental Health Act 2013

For the purposes of this Act, an adult is taken to have the capacity to make a decision about his or her own assessment or treatment (decision-making capacity) unless a person or body considering that capacity under this Act is satisfied that – he or she is unable to make the decision because of an impairment of, or disturbance in, the functioning of the mind or brain; and he or she is unable to – understand information relevant to the decision; or retain information relevant to the decision; or use or weigh information relevant to the decision; or communicate the decision (whether by speech, gesture or other means).

For the purposes of this Act, a child is taken to have the capacity to make a decision about his or her own assessment or treatment (decision-making capacity) only if a person or body considering that capacity under this Act is satisfied that – the child is sufficiently mature to make the d ecision; and notwithstanding any impairment of, or disturbance in, the functioning of the child's mind or brain, the child is able to – understand information relevant to the decision; and retain information relevant to the decision; and use or weigh information relevant to the decision; and communicate the decision (whether by speech, gesture or other means).

For the purposes of this section – an adult or child may be taken to understand information relevant to a decision if it reasonably appears that he or she is able to understand an explanation of the nature and consequences of the decision given in a way that is appropriate to his or her circumstances (whether by words, signs or other means); and an adult or child may be taken to be able to retain information relevant to a decision even if he or she may only be able to retain the information briefly.

In this section – information relevant to a decision includes information on the consequences of – making the decision one way or the other; and deferring the making of the decision; and failing to make the decision.