Is DoLS set to be replaced?

This may have slipped under everyone’s radar. A report that received little attention in the news from the Law Commission has recommended scrapping the current Deprivation of Liberties Safeguards, which it describes as “in crisis”, and replacing them with a new Liberty Protection Safeguards system.

Although this may seem like semantics, the new system is notably less onerous that the current safeguards. Although this may prove much more beneficial to a courts system struggling to deal with the massive increase in DoLS cases since the 2014 Cheshire West ruling, some will highlight that it poses a risk to the vulnerable. One notable change is the scrapping of ‘best interests’ assessments for all cases.

Law Commissioner Nicolas Paines QC has argued, however, that the current system is failing families because of the backlogs it creates: “There are unnecessary costs and backlogs at every turn, and all too often family members are left without the support they need.

“The Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards were designed at a time when considerably fewer people were considered deprived of their liberty. Now they are failing those they were set up to protect.”

Read more about the changes here.