The Scottish adult support and protection legal framework

Abstract

Scotland now has three key statutes that provide a legal framework for the support and protection of adults at risk of harm: Adults with Incapacity (Scotland) Act (2000), Mental Health (Care and Treatment) (Scotland) Act (2003) and Adult Support and Protection (Scotland) Act (2007). This article provides details of the 2007 act and highlights its interaction with the other two. The author argues that an effective adult support and protection strategy will need to address all three acts. A pyramid of intervention is used to explain the increasing levels of intervention that are now available in Scotland. The article also highlights how Scotland continues to diverge from the rest of the UK. It argues that comparative studies within the UK as well as the wider world, using tools such as the pyramid, could improve our understanding of this important and rapidly changing area of law.

Citation

Mackay, K. (2008), "The Scottish adult support and protection legal framework", The Journal of Adult Protection, Vol. 10 No. 4, pp. 25-36. https://doi.org/10.1108/14668203200800023