Supreme Court to consider power of parents to consent to interventions in relation to teenagers with impaired capacity

The Supreme Court has granted permission to the Official Solicitor to appeal the decision in Re D [2017] EWCA 1695, in which the Court of Appeal held that a person with parental responsibility can consent to the confinement of their 16 or 17 year old child where that child has impaired capacity.  The case will be the first case before the Supreme Court to consider how the Mental Capacity Act 2005 applies in relation to this age group, and how it interacts with the common law concept of parental responsibility.  Its implications are not confined to situations of confinement, but also to the delivery of medical treatment to older teenagers.

Alex Ruck Keene and Annabel Lee, led by Henry Setright QC, are appearing on behalf of the teenager, D (by his litigation friend, the Official Solicitor).

The hearing is listed for 3 and 4 October.