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Professional Practice, Ethics & Supervision · AdvancedPremium · in-depth
Deprivation of Liberty in Practice: Article 5, DoLS and the 2026 Supreme Court Ruling
A premium, in-depth programme on liberty, the Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards and the Court of Protection after the Supreme Court's June 2026 judgment
This premium programme is a comprehensive, practice-focused course on deprivation of liberty for therapists, best interests assessors, social workers, nurses and other practitioners in England and Wales who work with people whose care may restrict their liberty. It is written for practitioners who need to decide whether a person is deprived of their liberty, how any deprivation should be authorised and reviewed, how the person's voice can be heard and how restrictions can be reduced.
The course is current to October 2026. It is built around the Supreme Court's judgment of 2 June 2026 in the reference by the Attorney General for Northern Ireland, which departed from the Cheshire West acid test, restored a multifactorial assessment of the objective element and recognised valid consent as a distinct concept, so that some people who lack capacity may nonetheless consent to their arrangements. It teaches the Department of Health and Social Care's guidance of June 2026, updated in September 2026, including the two-stage assessment, the advice to continue using the safeguards where there is doubt, and the recording of decisions to let authorisations lapse. It uses the official statistics for 2024 to 2025 and states clearly that the Liberty Protection Safeguards have not been implemented.
Across six modules and thirty lessons you will study why the law protects liberty and the structure of Article 5; the path from Guzzardi to Cheshire West and the 2026 judgment; the scope, processes, assessments, eligibility rules and representatives of the Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards; how to assess the objective element and valid consent, including serious doubt and medication; how the framework applies across settings; reviews, section 21A challenges, community authorisation by the Court of Protection, children and young people, and state responsibility; least restriction, the person's voice, families and psychological practice in restrictive settings; and reform, other United Kingdom jurisdictions, governance, ethics and supervision-level practice.
Every lesson contains a worked clinical example, the common pitfalls in practice and a reflective question, together with key points, a practice task for the week, study activities and further reading. The course includes an extended case study, a glossary and a 25-question assessment with a pass mark of 80 per cent. Every reference has been checked against its publisher, legislation.gov.uk, the National Archives, the European Court of Human Rights or the issuing body.
The course treats liberty as a matter of people's lives as well as of law. It is clear about what the law requires, who decides and what remains uncertain after the 2026 judgment, and it emphasises the contribution therapists and other practitioners make by hearing the person's voice and reducing restriction. It asks you at each stage to check the current position, because guidance and case law continue to develop.
▶ See inside the digital classroom1 minute 36 seconds · how a course is laid out, how each lesson is taught, and how the tutor helps
Before you start
This is a premium, in-depth programme: 6 modules and 30 lessons written at Advanced level and beyond, with a worked clinical example, a reflective question and the common pitfalls in every lesson. It assumes that you already practise, or are training to practise, in this field; it does not assume a particular course before it, and it covers its foundations itself before going well beyond them.
34.5 study hours34.5 CPD hours certified12 months of accessAI tutor in every lessonCertificate on completion (pass mark 80%)
What you will be able to do
✓Explain why the law protects liberty, the structure of Article 5 and the three components of a deprivation of liberty.
✓Trace the development of the law from Guzzardi to Cheshire West and explain what the Supreme Court decided on 2 June 2026.
✓Apply the multifactorial assessment of the objective element to people in different settings.
✓Assess valid consent, recognising serious doubt, the effects of medication and the position of people who cannot express a view.
✓Describe the scope, processes, assessments, eligibility rules, representatives and advocacy of the Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards.
✓Explain reviews, suspension, termination and section 21A challenges, and make sure that a person's objection reaches the court.
✓Identify when the Court of Protection must authorise a deprivation of liberty, including for 16 and 17-year-olds, and the routes for younger children.
✓Apply the principles of state responsibility to private and family arrangements.
✓Reduce restriction and elicit the person's voice, working with families and contributing psychological understanding.
✓Record defensible decisions, contribute to governance and explain the status of reform, including the unimplemented Liberty Protection Safeguards.
What you will study
Module 1: Liberty, Article 5 and the 2026 reset
Why the law protects liberty, the structure of Article 5, the development of the definition from Engel and Guzzardi to Cheshire West, and the Supreme Court's 2026 judgment that replaced the acid test.
Liberty, confinement and why the law caresInformal admission assumes a person has chosen hospital, yet it gives compliant people who lack capacity none of the Mental Health Act's safeguards.
Article 5: structure, safeguards and lawful procedureArticle 5(1) permits deprivation of liberty only on the listed grounds, including persons of unsound mind under 5(1)(e), and only through a procedure prescribed by law.
From Guzzardi to Cheshire WestEngel judged military disciplinary measures against the normal conditions of service life, treating strict arrest in a locked cell as a deprivation of liberty but lesser restrictions as not.
The 2026 Supreme Court judgment (AGNI)AGNI was decided unanimously on 2 June 2026 by seven Justices, in a joint judgment of Lord Sales and Lady Siml
