MCA & Deprivation of Liberty Practice SupportBrowse Mental Capacity Act, DoLS and deprivation of liberty briefings and explainers, selected to support reflection, supervision, team discussion and rights-based decision-making.
Current MCA, DoLS and deprivation of liberty briefings
A short Mental Capacity Act briefing exploring the difference between assuming and presuming capacity. This 3 minute resource supports practitioners to apply Principle 1 in a rights-based, evidence-informed way, staying professionally curious while starting from autonomy.
A 7-minute practitioner briefing on the Supreme Court judgment in UKSC/2025/0042 and its implications for deprivation of liberty practice after Cheshire West. It explains why continuous supervision and control plus not being free to leave is no longer sufficient on its own, and explores valid consent, wishes and feelings, practical recording, safeguards and the need to assess the person’s concrete situation as a whole.
A practitioner briefing on informal mental health admission, consent and Article 5 risk following the Supreme Court shift in deprivation of liberty law. It explores when informal admission may be lawful, why compliance is not the same as consent, the additional caution required after section 2 detention, and how to choose and record the appropriate safeguarded legal route.
A seven-minute case-law briefing exploring how Oxfordshire County Council v P applies the Supreme Court’s AGNI judgment to deprivation of liberty. It examines the tension between the court’s fact-sensitive decision and the full AGNI test, helping practitioners distinguish the facts from the legal rule, test the reasoning and reach their own defensible conclusion.
A seven-minute practice briefing on TDB v London Borough of Haringey, exploring the relationship between Care Act assessment, decision-specific mental capacity and the use of specialist expertise. The Court of Appeal has reserved judgment, so the briefing explains the issues under consideration without predicting the outcome.
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These briefings support reflective, rights-based MCA and deprivation of liberty practice. They are practice support, not legal advice. Always consider the person in front of you and seek legal advice where a situation is finely balanced.
