In the words of the song, the ‘secret’ Court of Protection is ‘no secret anymore’ because since January 2016, hearings are held in open court, unless the circumstances are exceptional. Applications for committal for contempt are always held in open court.

We have written about this here.

This has not stopped the Telegraph trotting out ‘secret’ again this week:

‘It is the latest in a series of controversies surrounding the Court of Protection, which sits largely in secret but which must publish details of any case in which it imprisons someone.’

Nor the Mail:

‘Teresa Kirk was given six months in prison by a judge in the secret Court of Protection, it emerged yesterday…. the facts of the case remain surrounded by secrecy’.
However, you can read the judgment here. The hearing was in open court and the facts are set out. It is not clear why publication was delayed for more than a month, but it may well be a practical reason, as transcripts can take quite a while to complete and check carefully.