As a result of the obvious need to focus on the coronavirus pandemic, there has been little reference recently to the liberty protection safeguards that were due to come into force on 1 October 2020. Although the primary legislation was passed,…
The High Court has recently given a decision[1] regarding the exercise of its inherent jurisdiction to regularise a care plan that had been put in place for a patient (referred to as AB) who was subject to a hospital order…
The Mental Capacity (Amendment) Bill was introduced to the House of Lords yesterday for its first reading, following a Law Commission consultation last year. The bill seeks to replace the current DoLs regime with ‘Liberty Protection Safeguards’. It recognises the difficulties inherent…
The Care Quality Commission (CQC) recently published a report on the rise in the use of the Mental Health Act (MHA) to detain people. The report identifies that: 80% of patients on acute wards are now detained detentions have increased by 40%…
Deprivation of Liberty for Young Persons (16 and 17 year olds) and Parental Consent The Court of Appeal considered whether a 16 year old boy’s parents could authorise the young person’s deprivation of liberty at a residential community placement in In Re…
The legal issues arising where children are detained without using the formal mechanism of the Mental Health Act has been subject to debate and litigation over recent years and the Court of Appeal is still due to decide whether a parent…
The answer to this thorny issue has been awaiting a decision by the Court of Appeal. The Court has now handed down its judgment[1]. Conditional discharge The Court of Appeal held that neither the Secretary of State nor the Tribunal has the…
The Policing and Crime Act 2017 (PCA) received Royal Assent on 31 January 2017 and comes into force on Monday 3 April 2017. The legislation deals with a broad range of areas affecting police and crime and makes some changes to…
The Law Commission published its report and draft Bill on 13 March 2017 following a three year review of the Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards (DoLS) regime. The review was requested by Government as local councils were seen struggling to cope with the…
In a previous briefing we reported on a case where the Court decided that a patient suffering from anorexia should be discharged rather than treated compulsorily using section 63 Mental Health Act[1]. The Court has recently decided a further case on…
