Dignity, Death and Deprivation of Liberty: Human Rights in the Court of Protection

19 September 2012 by Guest Contributor

What: Dignity, Death and Deprivation of Liberty: Human Rights in the Court of Protection 

When: 6pm on Wednesday 10th October 2012 

You are invited to join 1 Crown Office Row for an event to mark the 5th Anniversary of the Court of Protection.  This Seminar will focus on current key topics in the Court of Protection being debated by two teams of Counsel from 1 Crown Office Row before an interventionist Panel comprising Philip Havers QC, Professor Anthony Grayling and Richard Stein, solicitor at Leigh Day & Co solicitors.

There are still a few places remaining to attend this event. If you are currently a legal practitioner and would like to attend please contact Charlotte Barrow, Marketing Executive at One Crown Office Row on charlotte.barrow@1cor.com stating your name and organisation. Places will be allocated on a first-come-first-served basis.

Topics for discussion on the evening include:

(i)             Assisted dying and withdrawal of life-sustaining treatment; the concepts of ‘necessity’ and ‘futility’, and the role Articles 2, 3, 8, and 14 ECHR;

(ii)           The meaning of deprivation of liberty, and ensuring effective protection under Article 5 ECHR;

(iii)          Protecting ‘dignity’ in serious medical treatment decisions through positive human rights obligations;

(iv)          Balancing forced treatment (e.g. feeding/sterilisation) with countervailing  positive human rights obligations;

(v)            Understanding Capacity, Advance Directives and their enforceability under the MCA 2005.

The Panel comprises:

Philip Havers QC has a wide-ranging practice focused, in particular, on public law, human rights law, clinical negligence, health law, environmental law, personal injury law, sports law, breach of confidence and contempt of court. He has appeared in many leading cases in these fields including R (Nicklinson and MA) v DPP and ors (representing “Martin”); Pretty v UK, HL, ECHR; Gregg v Scott HL; Grieves and Cooper v UK, ECHR; R (Ullah) v Special Adjudicator, HL; R (Rogers) v Swindon PCT, CA; R (Burke) v GMC, CA; Heil v Rankin, CA.

Anthony Grayling MA, DPhil (Oxon) FRSL, FRSA is Master of the New College of the Humanities, and a Supernumerary Fellow of St Anne’s College, Oxford. He has written and edited over twenty books on philosophy and other subjects; including “The Good Book”, “Ideas That Matter”, “Liberty in the Age of Terror” and “To Set Prometheus Free”. For several years he wrote the “Last Word” column for the Guardian newspaper and now writes a column for the Times. He is a frequent contributor to the Literary Review, Observer, Independent on Sunday, Times Literary Supplement, Index on Censorship and New Statesman, and is an equally frequent broadcaster on BBC Radios 4, 3 and the World Service. He writes the “Thinking Read” column for the Barnes and Noble Review in New York, is the Editor of Online Review London, and a Contributing Editor of Prospect magazine.

Richard Stein is a Partner in the Human Rights Department at Leigh Day & Co.  He specialises in public law cases dealing with health issues, including medical ethics and hospital closures, education, planning/environment and community care as well as those of a more general political/human rights nature.

Richard has acted in a number of relevant health cases including Diane Blood; Re S, (forced caesarean);  Ms B, right to die; exp Watts, (NHS treatment abroad); exp FPANI, (Northern Ireland abortion rights); Charlotte Wyatt; Smith v NE Derbyshire PCT (patient involvement in health changes);  R (Nicklinson & AM) v DPP & ors – representing ‘Martin’.   He appeared in Channel 4 docu-drama – ‘Born with two mothers’.

This event has been registered for 1.5 CPD points.