Re A-F [2018] EWHC 138 (Fam)
Frances Heaton QC, Kate Burnell, and Shaun Spencer were all recently involved in an important decision regarding Article 5 and the deprivation of liberty of children in care.
The judgment was delivered by the President of the Family Division in a series of seven cases involving children between 10 and 15 who are all subject to care order and are being deprived of their liberty in either foster care, specialist educational establishments, or single occupancy residential placements.
The President addresses various substantive and procedural questions in relation to the interface between care proceedings and Article 5 of the ECHR. The authoritative judgment provides guidance as to how the court should approach cases in which a child is arguably being deprived of their liberty whilst in the care of the local authority.
