For people who consider their loved ones well cared for, safe, and happy, the pre‑AGNI deprivation of liberty (DoL) processes were nonsensical and often intrusive. For that reason, the current judgment brings a sense of relief to many. But for other individuals, whose daily lives are dictated and constrained by institutional or quasi‑institutional regimes, with simple choices removed from their decisional space, and an array of human‑rights abuses hidden behind closed cultures, this judgment may have a more detrimental impact.
Tag Archives: Supreme Court
Overturning Cheshire West and my Grandma’s experience of ‘the death house’ care home
Born in 1930, my Grandma was funny, cheeky, loving and firmly opinionated. She had been diagnosed with end-stage heart failure and vascular dementia, with fluctuating capacity and had been living happily in a small nursing home…
The Supreme Court’s judgment is an opportunity returning us to common sense
by Lorraine Currie, 11th June 2026 The image accompanying this blog has been provided by Lorraine’s daughter: the Magic Artist, Grace. To see her artwork (and for details about how to purchase it), you can visit her website: https://gracecurrie.art Editorial Note: this is the first of a series of ‘commentary’ blog posts we plan to publishContinue reading “The Supreme Court’s judgment is an opportunity returning us to common sense”
Jonathan Sumption talks to Celia Kitzinger about the work of a Supreme Court judge
“if there’s a decision of the Supreme Court that is arguably wrong, the sooner we decide whether it is, the better…. There is no such thing as an infallible institution.”
If you were a Supreme Court judge, how would you decide Cheshire West Revisited?
Observers form opinions about what they see, opinions informed by their own unique expertise and knowledge base (professional and personal).
Abstract argument: The Attorney General for Northern Ireland’s Reference to the Supreme Court
Many of the hypothetical arguments and postulated facts raised at the hearing concerned not the issue of consent on which the Attorney General sought guidance, but the wider issue of whether Cheshire West was correctly decided viz. the “acid test”. That question was raised late in the day by the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care who does not have standing to refer cases directly to the Supreme Court himself…
“Liberty” in the Supreme Court
“What about somebody who is so demented they’re effectively catatonic. Just spend the day in front of a television set. Is that person- In what sense does that person have any liberty which she can be deprived of?” (Lord Reed)
Reflections of a freelance mental capacity consultant on the Supreme Court case about deprivation of liberty
I know it’s not a popular view, but I consider the limitations on my daughter’s liberty arise from the injury. She cannot always bring forward and initiate ideas; she can’t go out alone – not because we or the State want to impede her experience of liberty but because the combination of visual impairment, mobility impairment and speed of processing information make it unsafe for her to do so.
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.
Place Your Bets: The Supreme Court vs The Spirit of Cheshire West
On Monday 20th to Wednesday 22nd October, the UK Supreme Court is gearing up to hear a case that could redraw the map of human rights protections for people deprived of their liberty, and I, for one, am terrified.
Promoting Open Justice in the Court of Protection 