The government is expected to announce its response to the Law Commission’s recommendations for a new scheme of “Liberty Protection Safeguards” for people lacking mental capacity whose care arrangements deprive them of their liberty in Spring 2018.
In the meantime, the Joint Committee on Human Rights has launched an inquiry into “The Right to freedom and safety: ‘Reform of the Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards”. Submissions were invited on whether the Law Commission's proposals for Liberty Protection Safeguards strike the correct balance between adequate protection for human rights with the need for a scheme which is less bureaucratic and onerous than the Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards; and on whether the definition of deprivation of liberty should be incorporated in statute and debated in Parliament.
The call for evidence is closed and we look forward to the next stage in the commitee is work.