Tim Spencer-Lane

This Practice Note explains the statutory framework and development of case law such as Birmingham City Council v D (2019) and Cheshire West, in relation to deprivation of children’s liberty. It also considers the new changes brought by the Law Commission Report on Mental Capacity and the Mental Capacity (Amendment) Act 2019 (MC(A)A 2019), as well as practical considerations for practitioners.

This Practice Note considers the use of the inherent jurisdiction to authorise deprivations of liberty for children and young people in circumstances where secure accommodation isn’t available. It covers the civil law procedures available to authorise a deprivation of liberty. This Practice Note explains what the inherent jurisdiction is, when it can be used and how applications can be made.

This Practice Note explores the interface between the Mental Health Act 1983 (MeHA 1983) and the Mental Capacity Act 2005 (MCA 2005), including in relation to inpatient care and treatment, informal admission to hospital, deprivation of liberty in hospital and under community powers of MeHA 1983.

This Practice Note considers the concept of ‘private’ deprivations of liberty for the purposes of Article 5 of the European Convention on Human Rights. It deals with situations where the state may be held responsible for a deprivation of liberty even though the relevant care or treatment has not been arranged and funded by the state but by private persons—for instance, care services might have been directly arranged by the person’s own family and paid for from the person’s funds or funds provided by family in a hospital, care home or domestic setting. It clarifies the powers and duties of the state arising from Article 5, relevant case law and the Mental Capacity Act 2005. It also covers the Mental Capacity (Amendment) Act 2019.

This Practice Note explains the role of the nearest relative under the Mental Health Act 1983 (MeHA 1983), how to identify the nearest relative, their rights and functions, and displacement of the nearest relative by the County Court under MeHA 1983, s 29.

These training materials consist of template PowerPoint slides that can be used as the basis of one or more training seminars on issues arising in relation to deprivation. It is anticipated that those providing training will use these slides as a helpful starting point for their presentations and then amend them accordingly to reflect their particular circumstances.

This Q&A considers the key difference between deprivation of liberty safeguards and guardianship.

This Q&A considers the difference between a memorandum of understanding for joint working by public bodies; and b) a shared services agreement, and in which circumstances each of them would be used.

This Q&A will consider the obligations on a local authority to commission a Rule 3A representative where there are no family members or friends willing or able to be a litigation friend.