Emergencies and Equivocality Under the Inherent Jurisdiction: A Local Authority v BF [2018] EWCA CIV 2962 and Southend-On-Sea Borough Council v Meyers [2019] EWHC 399 (FAM).

In A Local Authority v BF [2018] EWCA Civ 2962, the Court of Appeal refused to grant permission to appeal against an interim judgment that deprived a capacitous man, Mr Meyers, of his liberty. The deprivation of liberty was held to be justified on the basis that there was evidence suggesting that he was of unsound mind under Article 5(1)(e) of the European Convention on Human Rights and, in any event, it was an emergency which temporarily obviated the need to establish that he was of unsound mind. In this commentary, I argue that the decision was flawed in two respects.