Professor Alex Ruck Keene

Alex Ruck Keene KC (Hon) is an experienced barrister, writer and educator. His practice is focused on mental capacity, mental health and healthcare law. He also writes extensively, editing and contributing to leading textbooks, and is the creator of the website Mental Capacity Law and Policy, providing resources and expert commentary on some of the most difficult mental capacity issues. He is also a Professor of Practice at the Dickson Poon School of Law, King’s College London and a Visiting Senior Lecturer at the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, King’s College London.

Throughout 2018, he was the legal adviser to the Independent Review of the Mental Health Act 1983. He was a specialist adviser to the Joint Committee on Human Rights for their 2020 inquiry into the human rights implications of the Government’s response to COVID-19 and specialist adviser into their 2021-2022 inquiry into human rights in the care setting. In March 2022, Alex was made an honorary KC, reflecting his contributions to mental capacity and mental health law outside the court room.