How would Britney Spears be treated if she was under a conservatorship in the UK?
Get a daily dose of showbiz gossip direct to your inbox Invalid Email Something went wrong, please try again later. Sign up Thank you for subscribing We have more newsletters Show me See our privacy notice  Britney Spears has been denied her request to have her father removed from her conservatorship, which controls most aspects of her life. The 39-year-old singer recently gave evidence to a Los Angeles court where she alleged she had been forced to strip naked with no privacy, was forced to continue with birth control, despite wanting more children, and had been put on a course of the strong prescription drug lithium against her will. She likened the long hours she's been made to work as only comparable to victims of sex trafficking and insisted her father, Jamie Spears, "should be in prison." Britney's fans who formed the Free Britney movement in 2009 when her conservatorship began said the singer's testimony was worse than they had feared. "Everything she said was absolutely heartbreaking and it was actually even worse than I really thought it was," said movement founder Megan Radford from outside the court. The UK comparison to a conservatorship is called a deputyship and offers far greater levels of transparency for the individual, according to Abigail Bird, a lawyer from Integrated Dispute Resolution and Laurus who spoke to The Mirror. "It is shocking to witness Britneys treatment from the point of view of the law in England," believes Abigail. "Such prolonged abuses of power are rare to see, and in my experience, the Court of Protection reacts very negatively if, sadly, a deputy is seen to be acting inappropriately." A more "robust" safeguarding system is in place in the UK before a deputyship is granted, and there is much greater transparency when it comes to the wishes of the individual in the deputyship when compared with the conservatorship system in the States, says Abigail. "There is a strong emphasis on the mandate for the deputy (in Spears case this would be her conservators) to only ever act in the best interests of the donor, Ms. Spears." Abigail continues: "The grounds for objecting to a deputy are extensive. If the donor regains mental capacity, they also have the opportunity to apply to cancel the Deputyship Order." And in the UK the robust system of checks and balances means criticisms of the deputy's behaviour are welcome. "Objections could be brought to the Office of the Public Guardian, a Government body, at any time if someone suspects the deputy of wrongdoing," explains Abigail. "The donor themselves is encouraged to apply if they object to their treatment." Moreover, the deputyship order proactively encourages individuals to share their wishes, and Abigail calls the apparent lack of opportunity for Britney to share her desires an "alarming difference" between the US and the UK systems. "Mental capacity has such a wide spectrum and can fluctuate from day to day, or even hour to hour," says Abigail, who explains that in England and Wales, deputies are required to ask the donor each time they make a decision about their finances or health. "This does not appear to be happening at all in the Britney Spears case." It would appear the US system views Britney's testimony as less valuable than a court dealing with a similar case might in the UK. Here in the UK, "the Court of Protection would give far more weight to the donors testimony," says Abigail, "as the purpose of the system is to the protect the donor during this time of vulnerability, whether permanently or temporarily." A UK deputyship order would broadly forbid the drastic actions Jamie Spears has taken, as Abigail explains deputies here are required to use "the least restrictive option" when it comes to "basic rights and freedoms" of the individual being cared for. "This does not appear to be the case for Britney, from what has been detailed in the media," concludes Abigail. "The role of the deputy is to support the donor to lead a safe but fulfilling life. " Fans and organisers behind the Free Britney movement have urged the singer not to give up in her attempt to remove her father from the conservatorship, as have a range of celebrity supporters including Cher, Paris Hilton and Miley Cyrus. It isn't yet clear whether Britney will attempt to formerly have her conservatorship removed.