Legal Advice on House Arrest and Deprivation of Liberty

Questioner

An (adult) acquaintance of ours is under house arrest: he is not allowed to leave the house and his mobile phone is also regularly confiscated so that contact with the outside world is minimal. His parents do this on the advice of his treating psychiatrist. However, there is no question of IBS or RM. A while ago he 'escaped' and went into hiding with friends. However, the police tracked him down and brought him back home. My question is twofold: Can parents, for whatever reason, keep their child in the house against his or her will? If there is no RM or IBS, are the police then entitled to search the house of those acquaintances and return the person concerned to his parents?

Lawyer

No. Without judicial authorization, one may not simply detain someone against their will, if one does so, one is liable to deprivation of liberty / hostage-taking and this is a crime with severe penalties. If the police cooperate in this, they are also liable to punishment. Simply entering a house without valid permission is also a crime and makes it punishable: breach of the peace and searching of belongings is absolutely unacceptable. All facts can be reported, only the officers involved are approached in a slightly different way. If you would like further help and/or advice, you can always contact me.