Additional safeguards are needed to ensure that disabled people are not deprived of their right to liberty, according to the Supreme Court ruling on a test case this week.
Overturning previous decisions by the Court of Appeal, the highest court in the land ruled that three people living in supported accommodation had been illegally deprived of their liberty under the Mental Capacity Act 2005.
The three individuals in the test case all need intensive support to carry out basic tasks and do not have the mental capacity to determine what is best for them.
According to the seven Supreme Court justice, this means that their living arrangements should have been regularly checked, even though there had been no debate as to whether their care arrangements were appropriate.
Lady Hale, Deputy President of the Court, said that the fact that these people might be deprived of their liberty in care facilities where living arrangements were comfortable made no difference, as “a gilded cage is still a cage”.
Charities and pressure groups have welcomed the ruling and have called for more guidance on the issue of deprivation of liberty but agree that the Supreme Court has provided a simple test to decide whether an individual is being deprived of their liberty or not.
Mind, which campaigns for people with mental illness said that the ruling had provided “much-needed clarity on a hugely complicated issue”, while the National Autistic Society called it a “victory for the rights of vulnerable people”.
However, because many more people will now be eligible for the Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards under the Mental Capacity Act, it may be that the present system will be unable to cope with the increased numbers.