Rights & choices · England
When people restrict your freedom
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This guide is about care and support in England.
You can ask for help to question restrictions.
Staff might lock a door or stop you going out.
Ask why this happens.
Restrictions can also affect your phone, visitors or bedtime.
Ask what you are being stopped from doing and why.
Not every restriction is a deprivation of liberty.
A restriction can still affect your other rights.
You can ask for help to question it.
Restrictions need a proper reason and legal basis.
Ask who agreed them and when they will be reviewed.
The law about deprivation of liberty changed in June 2026.
Ask for advice that uses the current law.
Your wishes matter, even if you do not speak.
Being quiet does not automatically mean you agree.
An assessment must look at your own situation.
Tell someone if the arrangements upset you.
You may be entitled to a representative or advocate.
They can help you question the arrangements.
Ask the council about a review.
A specialist solicitor can help explain a court challenge.
Ask for copies of your plans and any legal permission.
Ask what each document allows.
A support plan does not give unlimited power to restrict you.
Tell someone if you are being harmed.
Call 999 if you are in immediate danger.
Care at home or in supported living
Different court rules apply to restrictions at home or in supported living.
Read our community DoLS guide to find out more.
What you can do next
This guidance explains the 2026 legal change.
It is detailed, so you may want support to read it.
Read the current government guidance Web pageThis link opens another website.
It may use harder words.
More useful links
- Government guidance after the June 2026 judgment Web page
Updated September 2026: the current approach and continuing safeguards.
- Find your local council Web pageFuller information
Ask for the DoLS team or adult social care service.
These links open other websites.
They may use harder words.
Restrictions and your right to liberty
Recognise visible and hidden restrictions, question their legal basis and find the right safeguards under current law.
Adults and young people · England
Notice what happens in daily life
Restrictions might include locked doors, being held, constant supervision or being prevented from seeing others. They may also involve staff controlling your phone, internet, money, access to food, visitors or bedtime. Equipment or medication can sometimes restrict freedom too. Ask what each measure is for, who agreed it and when it will be reviewed. Its purpose and effect matter, not only the label used.
Not every restriction is a deprivation of liberty
Being made to leave an event early, or having contact limited, is not automatically an Article 5 deprivation of liberty. But it may still interfere with privacy, relationships, expression or care rights. Look at the whole arrangement and the individual restriction. “It is not DoLS” does not answer whether the practice is lawful, necessary or appropriate.
Restraint under the Mental Capacity Act
For care or treatment relying on sections 5–6 of the Act, staff need a reasonable belief that the person lacks capacity for the decision and that the action is in their best interests. Restraint additionally requires reasonable belief that it is necessary to prevent harm to that person and proportionate to the likelihood and seriousness of that harm. These sections do not themselves authorise deprivation of liberty. Protecting others may involve a different legal basis; obtain advice.
Look at everyday control and its effects
A locked cupboard, continuous tracking, blanket visitor rules or medication used mainly to subdue someone can need scrutiny. Some measures may be justified for an individual; others may be unnecessary or unlawful. Consider what the person wants, what harm is feared, actual evidence, less restrictive support and the effects on dignity and everyday life. A care plan or risk assessment does not itself provide legal authority.
The current legal approach
In the Attorney General for Northern Ireland reference [2026] UKSC 16, decided on 2 June 2026, the Supreme Court changed the approach to identifying deprivation of liberty. There is no longer one decisive “acid test”. Assessment considers the individual’s whole situation, including the kind, duration, effects and implementation of restrictions. Continuous supervision and freedom to leave remain relevant but are not decisive alone. Read the current government guidance linked below.
Understanding the person’s wishes
For this Article 5 question, valid consent differs from legal capacity under the Mental Capacity Act. Some people lacking MCA capacity may still validly accept arrangements with the necessary awareness and basic understanding. Compliance alone is insufficient; serious doubt prevents a conclusion of valid consent. Support communication and consider pressure, fear and medication. This does not replace MCA consent and best-interests requirements for care or treatment.
Communication and safeguards
Take objections, distress and attempts to leave seriously. Support communication without assuming that silence means agreement. Ask how fear, pressure or medication may affect responses. Involving familiar people and reviewing observations can help. A deprivation-of-liberty authorisation does not provide blanket permission for treatment or restraint; these require their own lawful basis.
Which route applies
Where the legal conditions are met, Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards (DoLS) apply to adults aged 18 or over in hospitals and care homes. Community arrangements may require court authorisation. Under-18s need the appropriate specialist legal route, not adult DoLS. Ask the council or solicitor which route applies; other mental health powers may be relevant.
Ask for review or challenge
Existing authorisations are not automatically cancelled by the judgment. Ask for a copy, its conditions and review date. A relevant person’s representative and, in qualifying cases, an IMCA can help with DoLS. The Court of Protection can hear challenges. Tell the council’s DoLS team about disagreement or doubt and seek specialist legal advice promptly. Raise immediate harm through safeguarding or emergency services.
Get the documents and the right help
Ask for the care plan, relevant risk assessments, behaviour plan and any authorisation or court order, in an accessible form. Ask what each permits, its conditions and when it ends. Explain any objections to your representative and the council’s DoLS team. A section 21A Court of Protection challenge to a DoLS authorisation is different from a service complaint. Other court orders have their own review routes. Get specialist legal advice promptly; do not wait for a complaint to finish if urgent protection is needed.
Words you could use
“Please explain the legal basis for these restrictions, how my wishes were assessed and how I can request a review or challenge.”
More useful links
- Government guidance after the June 2026 judgment Web page
Updated September 2026: the current approach and continuing safeguards.
- Find your local council Web pageFuller information
Ask for the DoLS team or adult social care service.
These links open other websites.
They may use harder words.
Where the information comes from
Links checked 1 November 2026.
These links open other websites.
They may use harder words.
- DHSC: deprivation of liberty after the 2026 judgment Web page
Current assessment approach, consent and existing authorisations.
- Supreme Court: Attorney General for Northern Ireland reference [2026] UKSC 16 Web page
Explains the change from the Cheshire West approach.
- Mental Capacity Act Code of Practice Web page
General decision-making and restraint safeguards; read deprivation-of-liberty material with the 2026 update.
- Government: DoLS guidance Web page
The DoLS scheme and practical materials; read with current judgment guidance.
- Mental Capacity Act 2005, sections 5–6 Web page
Limits on restraint under section 5, harm to the person and the need for separate deprivation-of-liberty authority.
- Mental Capacity Act 2005, section 21A Web page
Court of Protection powers to review DoLS authorisations.
- CQC: Regulation 13 Web page
Protection from abuse, improper restraint and unlawful deprivation of liberty.
- EHRC: Article 8 Web page
Privacy, autonomy and relationships, including restrictions short of deprivation of liberty.