Imagine a world in which the NHS mental health system endures a particular kind of problem which centres around the police consistently not doing their job or not doing it properly. Imagine an issue of some importance to mental health professionals and patients alike, because it concerns their safety and their physical integrity – the […]

If you ever find yourself at a literary loose end – perhaps shortly after you’ve exhausted all of your Dostoevsky and your Mills and Boon – you could turn your hand to the less-than-riveting read of the Civil Contingencies Act 2004.  I will admit: it’s not really a page-turner and there’s no interesting plot twist toward […]

NB: on 2nd June 2026, the UK Supreme Court issued a new judgment in the “AGoNI Reference” which sets aside Cheshire West with immediate effect and re-determines what a “deprivation of liberty” is, for the purposes of British domestics laws. This article is therefore no longer reflective of current law. The long-awaited judgment in “Cheshire […]