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Author and Publication
Author: Nellie Supports Ltd
Publication Date: 15/05/2026
Citation
HM Courts and Tribunals Service, Form COP24: Witness statement. Available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/form-cop24-witness-statement
Copywright
Copywright © 2026 Nellie Supports Ltd. All rights reserved.
This article is made available for general information, education and professional reference. It may be downloaded, printed and shared for non-commercial purposes, provided that it is reproduced in full, is not altered in any way, and is properly cited as the work of Nellie Supports Ltd. This material must not be edited, adapted, sold, republished, incorporated into commercial products, or used for commercial training, assessment, report-writing or advisory services without prior written permission from Nellie Supports Ltd.
This article does not constitute legal advice, clinical advice or a substitute for a decision-specific professional assessment. Where legislation, government guidance, court forms or external professional materials are referred to, those materials remain subject to their own copyright, licensing and re-use terms.
Abstract
This guide explains what the Court of Protection expects in a COP24 witness statement on deprivation of liberty after AGNI: who signs it, why a bare assertion fails, what the statement itself should say, what should be exhibited, why the deputy should not conduct the Article 5 analysis personally, how to draft from the exhibit's compliance schedule, and what to do where the evidence shows the person is deprived of their liberty.
When the Court of Protection directs a COP24 on whether a person is deprived of their liberty before it will authorise a property sale, the statement is the deputy's or attorney's own evidence, signed with a statement of truth. What it says, and what it exhibits, decides whether the direction is met first time. This guide explains the division of labour after AGNI: what belongs in the statement, what belongs in the exhibits, why a bare assertion or a care home letter will not do, and how to draft from an independent report so that the judge can check each paragraph of the direction against the bundle.
What a COP24 is and who signs it
A COP24 is a witness statement in Court of Protection proceedings. It is made by a person with knowledge of the facts, signed with a statement of truth, and it is that person's evidence. When the court directs the applicant to file a COP24 on deprivation of liberty, it is asking the deputy or attorney to state their position, in their own name, on whether the person is deprived of their liberty within the meaning of AGNI. The solicitor drafts it, the deputy signs it, and the deputy is answerable for what it says. It is not the place for an assessor's opinion to appear as if it were the deputy's own, and it is not the place for the deputy to venture a legal analysis unsupported by anything.
The bare assertion, and why it fails
The shortest COP24 says that the person is settled in the care home, that no standard authorisation is in place, and that in the deputy's view the person is not deprived of their liberty. The Professional Deputies Forum said in June 2026 that a professional deputy cannot simply say that, and the court's directions since then confirm it. The statement answers none of the six evidential heads the court is directing, it gives the judge nothing to test the position against, and it invites the inference that the sale is being used to settle an unexamined residence arrangement. It will produce a further direction, and the sale will wait.
What the statement itself should say
The deputy's statement should be short and should do four things. Identify the application and the property. State whether a standard authorisation exists and exhibit it if so. State the applicant's position on whether the person is deprived of their liberty within the meaning of AGNI, giving the reasons in summary. And identify the exhibits on which that position rests, cross-referring to them paragraph by paragraph against the court's direction. Everything evidential belongs in the exhibits. The statement is the deputy adopting the evidence, not restating it.
What gets exhibited
The principal exhibit is an independent deprivation of liberty report from an assessor who has visited the person, read six months of care and medication records, spoken with the staff and applied the AGNI test. That report supplies the description of the setting, the itemised restrictions, the medication and PRN account, the person's understanding and response, the valid consent analysis and a reasoned opinion on the objective element, the subjective element and state attribution. Where the court has also directed evidence of the person's capacity to decide to sell, the COP3 is a separate exhibit. Where a standard authorisation exists, it is exhibited too. A care home letter can be exhibited as an input, but it should not be the only exhibit.
Why the deputy should not write the analysis personally
Three reasons. First, the deputy usually has an interest in the outcome: the sale funds the care and closes the estate's largest liability, and the court knows that. Evidence from someone independent of the sale carries weight that the deputy's own assessment cannot. Second, the AGNI test is a legal test with two limbs and a multifactorial first limb; a lay deputy is not equipped to apply it and a professional deputy is not being paid to. Third, the person's understanding and response, which is where the case turns, has to be gathered from the person directly, at a visit, by someone trained to do it. A deputy who reports what they have been told is reporting hearsay.
Drafting from the exhibit rather than from scratch
The efficient way to draft the statement is to take the report's compliance schedule, which maps each paragraph of the court's direction to the section of the report that answers it, and build the statement around it. Paragraph (a) of the direction: the statement says whether an authorisation exists and refers to exhibit A. Paragraphs (b)(i) to (iv): the statement refers to sections of the report by number. Paragraph (c): the statement gives the applicant's position and says it is based on the assessor's reasoned opinion at the section identified. Drafted this way, the statement is a page or two, and the judge can check it against the direction in a few minutes.
Where the position is that the person is deprived of their liberty
The report may conclude that the person is deprived of their liberty on the AGNI test: the restrictions are extensive, the person objects or does not understand, valid consent is absent, and the arrangements are attributable to the state. That is not a reason to soften the statement. The deputy's position should follow the evidence, and the statement should say what the applicant proposes about it, which will usually be that the placement provider or local authority is being asked to consider authorisation, and that the property application should proceed in parallel because the sale does not depend on the arrangements being unauthorised. A statement that reports the evidence honestly and proposes a route is far stronger than one that argues the evidence away.
Timing and the COP14PA
The direction usually gives 28 days from issue and requires the deputy's declaration in the same window. The statement cannot be finalised until the report exists, so the visit and the records request are the critical path. Instruct on the day the order arrives, give the assessor the issue date, and reserve the last week for drafting and for the deputy to read and sign. If the report raises something the deputy did not expect, that week is where it gets dealt with.
Key takeaway
The COP24 is the deputy's statement of position, not a summary of what the care home said. It should be short, adopt an independent exhibit that answers each paragraph of the court's direction, and give the applicant's reasoned position under AGNI by reference to that exhibit. The analysis belongs in the report; the deputy's job is to adopt it, sign it and file it in time.
Frequently asked questions
Can the care home write the COP24 evidence?
Only as an input. The court has said that a bare assertion will not do, and a manager's letter that the person is happy is a bare assertion with a signature. It does not itemise restrictions from observation, does not analyse six months of PRN, does not record the person's understanding in their own words and cannot give the applicant's position on the AGNI test.
Can the assessor's report be filed as the COP24?
No. The report is the assessor's evidence and is exhibited. The COP24 is the deputy's evidence and is signed by the deputy. Filing the report as if it were the statement leaves the court without the applicant's position, which is what paragraph (c) of the direction asks for.
What is a draft COP24 from the assessor?
A draft in the deputy's name, built from the report's compliance schedule, which the solicitor and deputy review, amend and sign. Adopting a draft is materially quicker than drafting from nothing inside a 28-day window, and it keeps the statement and the exhibit consistent with each other.
What if the report says the person is deprived of their liberty?
State the position the evidence supports and propose a route. The sale application does not depend on the arrangements being unauthorised. A statement that reports the finding honestly and says what the deputy is doing about it is stronger than one that argues with its own exhibit.
Related mental capacity assessment pages
These internal links help readers move from this guide to the most relevant Nellie Supports service page, assessment option or legal framework page.
Need the exhibit before you can draft the statement?
Nellie Supports produces an independent Deprivation of Liberty Report applying AGNI, with a compliance schedule against the court's direction, written to be exhibited to the deputy's COP24. The Property Sale Evidence Bundle adds a COP3 on capacity to sell and a draft COP24 in the deputy's name for the solicitor to adopt. Every report is peer reviewed before delivery. Call 0333 987 5118 or visit the property sale evidence service page.