In recent years, increasing concern has been raised about the relatively small but rising number of highly vulnerable children who are deprived of their liberty under the inherent jurisdiction of the high court in England and Wales. In spite of the concern, we know very little about the children – their characteristics, behaviours, risk factors or needs.
In July 2022 the President of the Family Division launched a national deprivation of liberty (DoL) court at the Royal Courts of Justice, which is running for a pilot period of 12 months. The pilot was set up partly as a way of managing the listing of the high number of applications coming into local family courts. From July 2022, all applications from England and Wales to deprive children of their liberty under the inherent jurisdiction of the high court were issued at this court.
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