Cases

Re CD (Treatment: Haemodialysis) [2024] EWCOP 55 T3 concerned a 66 year old man with end stage renal disease and dementia.  He had been receiving haemodialysis since 2022, but following a third stroke in the summer of 2024, he had repeatedly pul... Read more  

Summary In this case, Poole J dealt with a quite extraordinary set of facts: an order authorising the withdrawal of life-sustaining ventilation which culminated, via circuitous routes and serendipity, to a child, previously confined to a critica... Read more  

Summary The decision of the European Court of Human Rights in Pindo Mulla v Spain [2024] ECHR 753 is a very significant case about the interplay between Articles 2 and 8 ECHR in the context of the refusal of medical treatment.Ms Pindo was a Jeho... Read more  

Summary HX was in her late 40s and suffered a cardiac arrest resulting in severe and irreversible brain injury with no prospect of recovery. She had been living with her son who opposed the withdrawal of treatment. Although they had not previous... Read more  

SummaryNN was a 32-year-old woman with a history of substance abuse and schizophrenia, repeatedly detained under the Mental Health Act 1983 from the age of 17 and homeless since 2023. She experienced a coercive, abusive relationship leading to a rela... Read more  

SummaryThis is a decision which is very helpfully summarised in the case title. In summary terms, it involved the court having to decide what to do, and how to do it, to secure the interests of CA, a 79 year old woman with dementia. Her daughter, DA,... Read more  

Summary Without straying into politics, this is a case which demonstrates the consequences of the fact that much state-funded care – including coercive mental health care – is now delivered privately.  It concerns a man, Paul Sammut, w... Read more  

Summary In this case, Cobb J was asked to determine the capacity and best interests of a woman as regards investigation and treatment of potentially serious conditions including different forms of cancer.  The woman had a long-standing ment... Read more  

Summary  This case concerned PS, a 79 year old lady with what was described as an extremely serious memory impairment related to alcohol use. She had been in a sexual relationship and lived with WP for almost twenty years. By the time the matte... Read more  

Summary  Poole J has examined in some detail the requirements of Article 5(4) ECHR in the context of court authorised deprivation of liberty.  On the facts of the case before him, he held that Article 5(4) required that PQ, the subject of ... Read more  

Summary The Court of Appeal has refused permission to appeal the decision of Cusworth J in NHS North Central London ICB v PC et al [2024] EWCOP 31.  The case concerned a 31 year old woman, who suffered a cardiorespiratory arrest and collapsed a... Read more  

Summary  How far can the State be expected to go in seeking to secure the rights of those in challenging situations?  A few months after this issue was looked at (albeit slightly curiously) from the perspective of Article 2 ECHR in R (Park... Read more