A digest of some interesting cases over the last 12 months:-
- Withdrawal of Treatment
- Mental Capacity
- Inquests
WITHDRAWAL OF TREATMENT – Re AA [2024] EWCOP 39 (T3)
The court will not ‘rubber stamp’ a clinical decision in a case where the parents’ opposition to medical opinion ‘has been clear for a long time’, ‘the court should have been accessed sooner…’ with ‘…two significant consequences:- (i) There is now only one available option before the court, and (ii) There is a perception of unfairness…’ and ‘…the declaration is really being sought to protect the clinicians and medical staff now and in the future from potential legal action’.
INQUEST – HM Senior Coroner for Sefton Knowsley v. Kay & Ors [2024] EWHC 1366
In an application for the order of a fresh inquest under s.13 Coroners Act 1988, the Court would be assisted by ‘a fuller explanation from the coroner as to what evidence was before the coroner at the time of the inquest, and what steps had been taken to obtain… medical records prior to the inquest… [and] a clearer explanation of the various documents exhibited to her witness statement…’
MENTAL CAPACITY – Hemachandran & Anor v. Thirumalesh (dec’d) [2024] EWCA Civ 896
‘The judge made an error of law in regarding the absence of belief…’ in a diagnosis or prognosis ‘…as determinative of the functional test…’ in s.3(1) MCA 2005, ‘…an error made through no fault of her own given that she was applying the test as set out by Munby J in Re MM’ [2007] EWHC 2003 (Fam), and ‘…fell into further error in rejecting the unanimous expert evidence as to capacity.’
INQUEST – Senior Coroner v. Assistant Coroner for East Riding of Yorkshire [2024] EWHC 2007
Where, at the time of the inquest, no trace of the deceased had been discovered, but since then remains have been found, the Court has the necessary jurisdiction, and it is ‘both necessary and desirable’, that a fresh inquest be conducted.