Deprivation of liberty

FORTHCOMING CHANGE: The Mental Capacity (Amendment) Act 2019 received Royal Assent on 16 May 2019. This Act amends the Mental Capacity Act 2005, replacing the current Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards with a new system, known as the ‘Liberty Protection Safeguards’ (LPS). This new system aims to reduce the burden on local authorities when seeking an order to confine an incapacitated person to a hospital or care home. The Department of Health and Social Care and the Ministry of Justice launched a consultation on 17 March 2022 seeking views on the proposed changes to the MCA 2005 Code of Practice and the implementation of the LPS. This consultation closed on 7 July 2022. Alongside the consultation, six sets of draft regulations, intended to underpin LPS, were also published. However, the future of the LPS is now uncertain. After a series of delays to their implementation, the government confirmed in April 2023 that the implementation of the LPS will be delayed ‘beyond the life of this Parliament’, therefore likely beyond Autumn 2024. For further background on the LPS, see: Liberty Protection Safeguards—delayed or doomed?, Liberty protection safeguards to protect vulnerable

To view the latest version of this document and thousands of others like it, sign-in with LexisNexis or register for a free trial.

TAKE A FREE TRIAL

Latest Family News

Family Procedure Rules 2010 Practice Direction Update No 7 of 2024

The seventh Family Procedure Rules 2010 (FPR 2010) Practice Direction (PD) update of 2024 has been issued, making amendments to six existing PDs and inserting three new PDs. The PD update makes provision for transparency orders where reporters have attended hearings in most types of proceedings relating to a child and in placement order proceedings where the application for a placement order is made within proceedings for a care order. Permanent provision is made to underpin the contested financial remedy online digital service for legal representatives. The pathfinder pilot is extended until 31 March 2026 in existing sites and expanded to additional courts. The pilot for notification to the police of non-molestation orders and of occupation orders with a power of arrest attached is extended until 28 February 2026. Amendments to allow local flexibilities to be adopted in the Child Arrangements Programme are extended until 28 February 2027 and the correct address for filing certain documents with the High Court is updated.

Online Procedure Rule Committee minutes—2024 in review

The Online Procedure Rule Committee (OPRC), established under the Judicial Review and Courts Act 2022 (JRACA 2022), creates rules governing the practice and procedure for specific types of online court and tribunal proceedings across the Civil, Family and Tribunal jurisdictions (CFT). The OPRC holds regular meetings, for which the minutes are published. This News Analysis summarises the key developments in 2024 and looks forward to potential future developments.

Family weekly highlights—19 December 2024

This week's edition of Family weekly highlights includes details of the Family Procedure (Amendment No 2) Rules 2024, the Law Commission scoping paper on financial remedies on divorce and dissolution and minutes from the Online Procedure Rule Committee meetings. The Family Procedure Rules 2010 Practice Direction Update No 7 of 2024 is also considered. Recent judgements on representation and procedural unfairness, inter-country adoption and strike out of an application for nullity are considered. Three new graphics added to Practice Notes in Family Practical Guidance are also set out.

Law Commission scoping paper on financial remedies on divorce and dissolution

Family analysis: The Law Commission has published a scoping paper on financial remedies on divorce and dissolution. The fundamental question underlying this project was whether the current law ‘provides a cohesive framework in which parties to a divorce or dissolution can expect fair and sufficiently certain outcomes’. The Law Commission found that it does not. This News Analysis considers the background to this project, the Law Commission’s findings and what might happen next.