In this paper we examine the role of informed consent to capacity assessment, focussing primarily on the two jurisdictions of England and Wales, and Ireland. We argue that in both jurisdictions, a capacity assessment should be regarded as a distinct intervention, separate from the ‘original’ intervention at issue, and that specific informed consent to the assessment should generally be sought in advance. As part of this, we consider what information should be provided so as to ensure informed consent. Having established a baseline requirement for informed consent, we also recognise that informed consent to assessment will not always be possible, either because the person is unable to understand the information about assessment or because the person refuses to be assessed and so, in the final part of the article, we explore how to proceed when informed consent is either not possible or not forthcoming, including an analysis of the implications of the statutory presumption of capacity.

在本文中，我们研究了知情同意对能力评估的作用，主要关注英格兰和威尔士以及爱尔兰这两个司法管辖区。我们认为，在这两个司法管辖区，能力评估应被视为一种独特的干预措施，与有争议的“原始”干预措施分开，并且通常应事先寻求对评估的具体知情同意。作为其中的一部分，我们考虑应提供哪些信息以确保知情同意。在建立了知情同意的基线要求后，我们还认识到，对评估的知情同意并不总是可能的，要么是因为该人无法理解有关评估的信息，要么是因为该人拒绝接受评估，因此，在最后一部分在本文中，我们探讨了在不可能或无法获得知情同意的情况下如何进行，包括分析法定能力推定的影响。