How to appeal a deprivation of Liberty order made against the child: What you need to know:
These serious DOLS Deprivation of Liberty and care orders orders should not be taken lightly, and they are not judicially made lightly by the learned Justices of High Court.
It is expected that the Court justices themselves taking into consideration the necessary welfare checklist and Supreme Court guidance for the child's best interests before making DOL's orders, ironicaly called Deprivation Of Liberty Orders.
It is known that there is a continued shortage of well trained experienced trained social workers. But sadly based on reports written by new inexperienced case workers, who do not have the required training and / or qualification to deal with children with Autism or a high degree of autism spectrum or Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) the authors of these reports incorrectly analise and report based on their limited understanding, further exacerbating the problems. At times the honourable courts, driven by such reports, tend to make what one would say orders that should be appealed.
This article deals with a situation where a litigant parent would find himself or herself or themselves in, needing to fight and appeal against a Deprivation Of Liberty order and the author of this article hopes that this article can shed some light on such orders for parents who are fighting for the best interest of their child and can help them to bring their child back home by successfully appealing such an order.
There are many issues faced by these parents, which are not just to deal with a child who suffera with autism or mental health issues, but a child whom they love and know that the child would be better off in their care. However, due to some or the other reason the enrollment of social services by a report from the school, or by a neighbour or some other source may lead to the social services getting involved, and thereafter sadly sometimes incorrectly analysiing or incorrect paperwork leading to a situation with the court may result in a finding that the child should be put in a secure location with an deprivation of liberty order in a care home setting.
Deprivation of Liberty unfortuanately are commonly spoken words, where as stated the child is placed in a care centre, and though not a prison may as well seem like one as the child is locked up and their liberty can be severly restricted. Whatever words you use it the fact is that the child is put in a facility where the child cannot go in or go out on his own free will. Nor are the parents at liberty to meet the child outsode the guidelines of the court order that details the days of the month and the time of contact in the order of the honourable court. Under the guise of protection for the child and others the physicl and mental impact of such deprivation of liberty on the child is lost.
Appeal Deprivation Of Liberty as a Parent:
If you are such a parent, if you are such a relative, a guardian, a grandparent, a sibling, reading this article please know all is not lost. The law of the Land allows us to appeal against such orders and we should consider taking such action to appeal such a court order, if it becomes clear its made incorrectly and if you feel it is absolutely necessary and in the best interests for the child to appeal the DOLS order.
The Author of the article is providing some of the many possible key points that can be considered while appealing to the Court of Appeal in such a matter. it needs to be checked if the honourable High Court has made the order correctly.
Consider if the order has been made in line with the Child Act 1989 paramountcy principle of the best interests of the child, and that the Order made is not in breach of European Convention on Human Rights, particularly Article 8, that mandates respect for family life.
Honourable justices of the senior courts through its judgements have given very important guidelines in regards to A Child's Deprivation of Liberty.
It should be checked if the DOLS order has been made in line with the principles as set out in Case Law / Common Law as established by this honourable Court Of Appeal and Supreme Court in many cases.
You may successfully appeal the care order and the deprivation of liberty orders (DOLs) of the child , if the order is made against the Proportionality and Necessity of the Orders principle, where it has failed to ensure the best interests of the child and the principles of the welfare checklist.
A type of code fails to consider the facts (the key evidence) that there may not have been any major issues with the or/and regarding the child in the parents care and orders should not be made in Breach of Article 5 ECHR including the breach of Liberty
The Law:
The right to liberty and security; actionable confinement Article 5 ECHR begins as follows:
Right to liberty and security
1. Everyone has the right to liberty and security of person. […]
In addition, Article 37 of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child ("UNCRC") provides:
States Parties shall ensure that:[…]
(b) No child shall be deprived of his or her liberty unlawfully or arbitrarily. The arrest, detention or imprisonment of a child shall be in conformity with the law and shall be used only as a measure of last resort and for the shortest appropriate period of time;
(c) Every child deprived of liberty shall be treated with humanity and resort for the inherent dignity of the human person, and in a manner which takes into account the needs of persons of his or her age. In particular, every child deprived of liberty shall be separated from adults unless it is considered in the child's best interest not to do so and shall have the right to maintain contact with his or her family through correspondence and visits, save in exceptional circumstances;
(d) Every child deprived of his or her liberty shall have the right to prompt access to legal and other appropriate assistance, as well as the right to challenge the legality of the deprivation of his or her liberty before a court or other competent, independent and impartial authority, and to a prompt decision on any such action.
The court should consider the suitability of the accommodation being recommended for deprivation of Liberty, Also when such time bound orders are made, these orders should be exceptions and should not become a practise, as there is a good reason why these orders need to be revisited.
Thus the orders for deprivation of liberty and care orders should not be made without the above considerations and if you wish to Appeal a Deprivation of Liberty order and you need our specialist paralegal services you can contact us on 07375757510 or email us at help@incourt.co.uk
Appeal Deprivation Of Liberty Order:
We at Court Help Limited specialises in Appeals on Care Orders, Appeals against child's deprivation of Liberty Orders. Please contact us on 07375757510 or email us on help@incourt.co.uk to get our value for money Paralegal services for such complex matters.
However if you are facing an issue where you need help of the court for child arrangements with the other parent, and you need to make a Child Arrangement Orders application you will need a C100 form. If you need help filling out a C100 form, please read this article. A step by step guide to fill a C100 form is available for your reference.
Further reading as to how to get Child Custody in England is available here.
If you are a Father trying to get Child Contact or Child Custody and need to know how to go about it, please read this article.
Additionally we specialise in Non-Molestation Orders made under the Family Law Act. This Act does not have wide-ranging powers compared to the Domestic Abuse Act. However, Our firm, Court Help Limited, specialises in Non-Molestation Order Defence and knows of the impact of the Non-Molestation Orders on those who are falsely accused when the applicants misuse the powers of the Non-Molestation Order.
This Article is not legal advice and should not be treated as legal advice.