{"id":52139,"date":"2026-08-25T13:56:26","date_gmt":"2026-08-25T12:56:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.devon.gov.uk\/adult-social-care\/?page_id=52139"},"modified":"2026-08-25T13:58:27","modified_gmt":"2026-08-25T12:58:27","slug":"statement-on-changes-to-the-definition-of-deprivation-of-liberty","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.devon.gov.uk\/adult-social-care\/independent-living\/mental-capacity\/deprivation-of-liberty\/statement-on-changes-to-the-definition-of-deprivation-of-liberty\/","title":{"rendered":"Statement on changes to the definition of deprivation of liberty"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">On 2 June 2026, the UK Supreme Court made an important decision that changes how &#8216;deprivation of liberty&#8217; is understood and defined. This has changed the previous definition of a deprivation of liberty, sometimes known as the \u2018acid test\u2019 which had been used since 2014.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">What the judgment means<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">It will affect how local authorities and care homes and hospitals (managing authorities) apply the Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards (DoLS) and consider whether someone is deprived of their liberty.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Court has removed the previous test from the Cheshire West case (2014). The test said someone was deprived of their liberty if they were under constant supervision and not free to leave, even if they seemed happy or did not object.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Court has said decisions must now be based on the person\u2019s individual situation, which includes:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>nature and impact of restrictions<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>purpose of care<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>setting<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>duration and intensity of restrictions<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>person\u2019s wishes and feelings<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Court also said that, even if someone lacks formal mental capacity, their wishes and feelings could show valid consent to a deprivation of liberty.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.gov.uk\/government\/publications\/changes-to-the-definition-of-deprivation-of-liberty\/uk-supreme-court-2026-judgment-on-what-constitutes-a-deprivation-of-liberty\" rel=\"noopener\">You can read more about the Supreme Court judgment here<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Devon County Council is currently reviewing and updating the information in these pages to reflect the changes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Important things for care homes and hospitals to consider before making a DoLS application:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Does it appear that the person is, or will be, a detained resident?<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Is the person likely to meet a multi-factorial test and not be able to give valid consent. We are looking for information and evidence about:\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>the type, duration, effects, and manner of implementation of the measures<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>whether the person is compliant or objecting, expressing a wish to leave, or trying to leave<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>whether the person\u2019s current or prior wishes suggest that they would want to leave<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>whether coercion is present, or the use of sedative medication<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>whether the measures in place go beyond what you would expect in that setting<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>the relative normality of the placement<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>why the measures are in place<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>whether the arrangements are in line with the person\u2019s wishes and feelings<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>whether the person can physically leave, or if their wish to leave would be facilitated or denied<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>On 2 June 2026, the UK Supreme Court made an important decision that changes how &#8216;deprivation of liberty&#8217; is understood and defined. This has changed the previous definition of a deprivation of liberty, sometimes known as the \u2018acid test\u2019 which had been used since 2014. What the judgment means It will affect how local authorities [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":0,"parent":834,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"class_list":["post-52139","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-10-11 04:06:10","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.devon.gov.uk\/adult-social-care\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/52139","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.devon.gov.uk\/adult-social-care\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.devon.gov.uk\/adult-social-care\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.devon.gov.uk\/adult-social-care\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/8"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.devon.gov.uk\/adult-social-care\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=52139"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.devon.gov.uk\/adult-social-care\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/52139\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":52143,"href":"https:\/\/www.devon.gov.uk\/adult-social-care\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/52139\/revisions\/52143"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.devon.gov.uk\/adult-social-care\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/834"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.devon.gov.uk\/adult-social-care\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=52139"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}