Following the case of HL v. UK, the Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards were introduced in 2009, making it unlawful to deprive a person of their liberty without proper authorisation.
Five years later, a House of Lords Select Committee found the legislation to be poorly understood, subject to widespread criticism, not used when it ought to be, and not fit for purpose.
The Supreme Court judgment, known as Cheshire West, which sets out an 'acid test' for deciding whether a person is deprived of their liberty, has since led to a huge increase in the number of applications for authorisations.
As there is no specific statutory definition of a deprivation of liberty, professionals must try to interpret the legislation and the case law, and apply it to the relevant circumstances to assess whether or not a person is likely to be deprived of their liberty.
This book aims to help professionals to make these assessments by providing a convenient single source of collected guidance, including the Law Society's Identifying a Deprivation of Liberty: A practical guide.
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