The Supreme Court's judgment on deprivation of liberty

You may be aware that the Supreme Court has recently issued a judgment which significantly changes the legal approach to determining whether a person is deprived of their liberty. The judgement can be seen here A Reference by the Attorney General for Northern Ireland of a devolution issue under paragraph 34 o….

We would encourage you to familiarise yourselves with the judgment and carefully consider the implications for your services and practice. Please see the following links for further information: CQC statement on the Supreme Court's judgment on deprivation of liberty - Care Quality Commission and 2026-UKSC-16-Summary-for-website.pdf.

We ask that you refer to this updated position when making any new referrals to the DoLS team.  In addition, as the change came into effect immediately from 2 June, please review any recent DoLS referrals you have made. You should consider whether, in light of this revised approach, any of these referrals may no longer be appropriate.

We hope this offers reassurance whilst we wait for additional National guidance to be disseminated.  At this stage we don’t have further information, but if you have a specific query, you can contact the MCA DoLS Duty Team at Dolforms@essex.gov.uk

Essex County Council - Provider Hub
Text size:

You could help by supporting the person you care for to: 

  • Keep active in their local community and stay connected  
  • Stay in touch with and make new friends 
  • Try new things and keep learning 
  • Think about what they eat and drink 
  • Look after their teeth 
  • Take care of their sight and hearing and note any changes 
  • Understand if they are getting a good night’s sleep 
  • Make the most of visits to the doctor  
  • Notice the little changes that might be a sign that something is wrong 
  • Feel confident to let people know when they need more support to understand and ask for help 
  • Get regular health checks and screenings they are entitled to 
  • Find things to do that make them laugh, smile and feel happy. 
  • Do what they love to do 
Last updated: 08/05/2024