The Royal Bournemouth and Christchurch Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust and Dorset Healthcare University NHS Foundation Trust and SE (by her litigation friend, the Official Solicitor) [2018] EWCOP 45 When incapable patients require life saving surgery against their wishes, judges of the Court of Protection are readily available to provide best interests declarations at short notice. […]
Royal Bournemouth and Christchurch Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust v TG and another [2019] EWCOP 21 What are the practical implications of this case? ‘The Lord giveth, and the Lord taketh away’ (Job 1:21). If this phrase reflects the patient’s (P) views on life, the Court of Protection will need to take it into consideration, as […]
Read More… from P’s wishes and feelings outweigh argument concerning futility of future treatment
On 16 July 2019, Mr Justice Hayden, the Vice President of the Court of Protection, handed down his judgment in the case of LB Tower Hamlets v NB & AU [2019] EWCOP 27 which considered the test for capacity to consent to sexual relations. Why is this judgment significant? The case considered whether ‘the test’ could […]
Williams J approves plan for covert sedation and C-section of incapacitous 25 year old The best laid plans … In NHS Trust v JP [2019] EWCOP 23[1], in a decision which emphasises the importance of an overall evaluation of best interests rather than placing undue focus on any one of several important factors, Williams J […]
“The efficacy of the MCA is dependent upon getting the balance right between empowering and protecting the incapacitous” In the matter of Domenica Lawson [2019] EWCOP 22 Autonomy and protection are the two principles at the heart of the MCA. One of the many ways they push up against each other is in determining the […]