This book provides a helpful guide to practitioners looking to better understand the interplay between the family court and the Court of Protection when authorisations for a deprivation of liberty (DOLs) for children and young people are required. Helpfully, the new updated version of this book now sets out the changes to DOLs applications in light of A Reference by the Attorney General for Northern Ireland of a devolution issue under paragraph 34 of Schedule 10 to the Northern Ireland Act 1998 [2026] UKSC 16 and gives guidance as to the new way forward.
Practitioners will find a summary of the relevant legal principles, alongside practical tips for the issues practitioners are most likely to encounter in everyday practice including guidance on how to identify when a case should more appropriately be heard in the family court under the Inherent Jurisdiction or in the Court of Protection, the type of restrictions that do not require authorisation by DOLs and how to plan for a child or young person’s future when DOLs will be required going into adult life. Key concepts like ‘Gillick competence’, ‘mental capacity’, and the difference between ‘child’ and ‘young person’ are explained in an easy to use way, alongside a helpful break down of all the relevant legal tests.
