Children and young people should never be shut in a room alone and prevented from leaving, according to the Department of Health.
That is according to newly-published departmental policy on restrictive practices, restraint and seclusion.
It applies across all health and social care settings in Northern Ireland.
Socialite Paris Hilton has previously backed parents trying to toughen the law on restraint and seclusion in Northern Ireland's schools.
The businesswoman has said she was placed in solitary confinement when at boarding school in the US as a teenager.
While the Department of Education has previously published interim guidance for schools, there have been calls for laws on when a child can be restrained or isolated in school to be strengthened.
