The Cross-border Placement of Children (Requirements, Effect and Enforcement) (Scotland) Regulations 2026: Equality Impact Assessment

Footnotes

1 In 2021, in response to a shortage of secure accommodation as well as other appropriate care placements in England and Wales, local authorities sought authorisation under the inherent jurisdiction of the High Court in England and Wales to place children on DoL orders in other types of non-secure accommodation. The Supreme Court ruled that DoL orders could be implemented outwith secure accommodation without infringing Article 5 ECHR. However, DoL orders were not automatically recognised under Scots law. This meant that an authority which was granted a DoL order needed to petition the Court of Session in Scotland to get such recognition through the court’s nobile officium/parens patriae jurisdiction(s). This was important, as lawful authority is an essential requirement for deprivation of liberty to be compliant with Article 5 of the ECHR.