Comments close on the Scottish Law Commission’s discussion paper on the right to liberty of adults with incapacity in residential facilities on 31 October 2012. 

This is from the accompanying press release:

“The background to the project is a decision of the European Court of Human Rights in a case involving a person with autism, who had been admitted to Bournewood – a psychiatric hospital in England. The care he was receiving there had some restrictive features, and requests by his carers for him to return home were refused. The Court’s decision was that there had been a breach of his right to liberty, as protected by Article 5 of the Convention. That result caused a change in the law of England and Wales. Admissions to long-stay hospitals for people with autism or other neurological conditions or disabilities who lacked decision-making capacity could no longer be regarded as voluntary and informal. A new system was introduced to authorise these admissions. The changes also affected some admissions to care homes.

The Commission is therefore examining the position in Scots law concerning the right to liberty of adults with incapacity in residential facilities.”

The consultation and other papers can be found here.