On 20-22 October 2025, the UK Supreme Court is hearing argument about how to understand a deprivation of liberty. This blog is a summary of the oral arguments that the court has heard, and will be updated as the case develops.
Tag Archives: Human Rights
Cheshire West returns to the Supreme Court: The position of the parties
This blog contains brief summaries of the position of each party and intervener. In putting together this blog, I’ve tried to capture the essence of each position but not explain every step in the formulation of that position.
Reform, not rollback: Reflections from a social worker and former DOLS lead on the upcoming Supreme Court case about deprivation of liberty
This question strikes at the heart of the “subjective element” of deprivation of liberty. And it’s why charities like Mind, Mencap, and the National Autistic Society are sounding the alarm. As someone who has worked as a DoLS lead, Best Interests Assessor, and social worker, and now as a Practice Development Consultant at SCIE, I share those concerns.
Cheshire West Revisited
There are probably constitutional and legal questions about this route to reviewing an earlier Supreme Court decision, but that’s not what interests me today. want to write about valid consent, because it’s a topic I’ve been thinking and writing about a lot since Cheshire West
Reconsidering Cheshire West in the Supreme Court: Is a gilded cage still a cage?
Even when P says they’re happy with their residence, and that they do not want to leave, and welcome the fact that the doors are kept locked, this still amounts to a deprivation of liberty. It is this element of deprivation of liberty that the Supreme Court will be considering in October 2025. The key question is whether a person can, in effect, “consent” to living arrangements that would otherwise constitute a “deprivation of liberty” through the expression of their wishes and feelings, irrespective of whether or not they have the mental capacity to consent to those arrangements.
Balancing patient welfare and procedural fairness: Withdrawal of ventilation before Hayden J
By Celia Kitzinger, 4th August 2025 The case, COP 20018026, before Mr Justice Hayden on 22nd and 23rd July 2025, appeared in the Royal Courts of Justice Daily Cause list as concerning “serious medical treatment”[1]. In an opening summary[2], counsel for the applicant explained that the case was about a man in his sixties who’dContinue reading “Balancing patient welfare and procedural fairness: Withdrawal of ventilation before Hayden J”
Strongly held beliefs do not equate to lack of litigation capacity: Judgment concerning Luba Macpherson’s appeal against committal to prison
By Amanda Hill, 24th June 2024 “But in America, in my home, they are persecuting people for using their right to free speech and voicing their dissent. This is happening now.” (Bruce Springsteen, during his concert at Lille, Saturday 24 May 2025[1]) As well as saying people are persecuted for using their right to freeContinue reading “Strongly held beliefs do not equate to lack of litigation capacity: Judgment concerning Luba Macpherson’s appeal against committal to prison”
“Does that mean I am off the hook?”: A successful s21a Deprivation of Liberty Challenge
By Claire Martin, 23rd June 2025 I had some unexpected time on Monday 16th June 2025, so I had a look at the listings the night before, and this one caught my eye because it said ‘FINAL HEARING’, so I knew that the judge’s determination on the matters listed (‘capacity and best interests’) was likelyContinue reading ““Does that mean I am off the hook?”: A successful s21a Deprivation of Liberty Challenge”
Preparing for possible future lack of capacity: My advance decision to refuse treatment and the case before Poole J
By Claire Martin, 13th June 2025 Le soleil ni la mort ne se peuvent regarder en face. You cannot stare straight into the face of the sun, or death. François de La Rochefoucauld, Maxim 26 Over the course of the last year or so, I’ve been thinking about what provisions I want to put inContinue reading “Preparing for possible future lack of capacity: My advance decision to refuse treatment and the case before Poole J”
Determining the legal status of a ‘Living Will’: Personal reflections on a case before Poole J
By Celia Kitzinger, 5th May 2025 Editorial note: There is a now published judgment, following the later hearing of 22nd and 23rd May) (which will be blogged separately). Click on the link in the name of the case: Re AB (ADRT: Validity and Applicability) [2025] EWCOP 20 (T3). In addition to the judgment dealing withContinue reading “Determining the legal status of a ‘Living Will’: Personal reflections on a case before Poole J”
Promoting Open Justice in the Court of Protection 