Search Results for: puberty blockers consent/page/44/Freedom of information - right of access) [2015] UKUT 159 (AAC) (30 March 2015)
11 August 2023 by Ruby Peacock
In this two-part article, Maya Sikand KC, Tom Stoate, and Ruby Peacock, explore two difficult questions arising from the inquest into the ‘harrowing circumstances’ of the death of a baby, Aisha Cleary, at HMP Bronzefield.
This first part seeks to answer the question: should coroners have jurisdiction to investigate stillbirths?
The second part will examine whether foetuses should enjoy Article 2 rights which do not conflict with the rights of the mother.
Rianna Cleary, who was 18 years old at the time, gave birth to Aisha Cleary alone in her cell in HMP Bronzefield, on the night of 26 September 2019, without medical or any other assistance. Ms Cleary’s two calls for help via the prison emergency intercom system in her cell were first ignored, then unanswered – despite there being a 24-hour nursing station on her wing in the prison. Terrified and in pain, without knowing what to do, Ms Cleary felt compelled to bite through her umbilical cord. Aisha’s birth was not discovered by prison staff until the next morning – after other prisoners raised their concerns – at which time Aisha was ‘not moving, had a tinge of blue on her lips, but was still warm’.[1] Unsuccessful resuscitation attempts were made, with an adult oxygen mask in the absence of any paediatric or neo-natal mask. Less than an hour later, paramedics confirmed that Aisha had died. The Senior Coroner for Surrey, Richard Travers, stated that Aisha ‘arrived into the world in the most harrowing of circumstances’.[2]
Following a month-long inquest, involving ten interested persons (‘IPs’) and more than 50 witnesses, including three expert witnesses, Mr Travers concluded that numerous causative failings contributed to Aisha’s death.
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9 July 2011 by David Hart KC
RWE Npower Renewables Ltd v. Welsh Ministers & Swansea Council [2011] EWHC 1778 (Admin) Read judgment
There are two things which public law fairness demands of a judge or a planning inspector before they rule against a party. The first is to make sure that any doubts about a party’s case is put to that party so he can respond. The second is that the judge or inspector explains his reasons for his conclusions in summary form. Unfortunately, in this case, the inspector did neither, and hence the decision was quashed by Beatson J. The judgment, at [37], contains a very good summary of the current cases on the adequacy of reasons in both planning and non-planning contexts.
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3 March 2022 by Nicola Logan
R (on the Application of the Counsel General for Wales) v Secretary of State for business, Energy and Industrial Strategy [2022] EWCA Civ 118
The Court of Appeal decision handed down on 9th February 2022 is an important case concerning devolved powers.
The judgement concerns an application for permission to apply for judicial review made by the Counsel General for Wales to seek a declaration in the following terms:
The amendment of Schedule 7B of GoWA by section 54(2) of UKIMA, to add UKIMA to the list of protected enactments, does not amount to a reservation and does not operate so as to prevent the Senedd from legislating on devolved matters in a way that is inconsistent with the mutual recognition principle in UKIMA.
The application was dismissed, and the appellant appealed on the grounds that the Divisional Court was wrong to refuse permission on the grounds of prematurity.
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19 January 2013 by Rosalind English
An NHS Trust v SR [2012] EWHC 3842 (Fam) – read judgment
The highly publicised case about a seven year old boy whose estranged parents could not agree about the necessary treatment following surgery for his brain tumour was resolved by a firm ruling in favour of orthodox medicine by Bodey J, four days before Christmas.
The facts of the case are well known, but it may be instructive to lay out some of the details of the procedure that follows in a situation like this, and to point up the approach of the courts to a matter where orthodox science lies flat against the claims of complementary medicine. Where the life of a child is at stake, there is no polite equivocation between the two.
Background
Briefly, the mother would not agree to the recommended post-operative course of chemo- and radiotherapy (carrying an 80% chance of success), believing instead that her son would fare better with alternative forms of treatment and would avoid or reduce the undoubtedly detrimental long-term side effects of the treatment package being proposed. In a serious matter such as this, where the parents cannot agree, an application has to be made to the court for a declaration that the procedure in question is lawful. That involves a decision as to the child’s best interests, being the court’s paramount consideration. Hence it was incumbent on the NHS Trust concerned to apply to the High Court to determine the issue of N’s treatment following on from his brain surgery two months previously.
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1 July 2024 by Rosalind English
R (on the application of Finch on behalf of the Weald Action Group) (Appellant) v Surrey County
Council and others (Respondents)
A detailed summary of the issues and the facts in this case can be found in the Supreme Court’s Press Release. The report below gives a very short account of these followed by a focus on the majority and dissenting judgments. I quote Lord Sales in some detail as the concerns expressed in his dissent will only prevail if Parliament were to legislate for them to do so.
Legal and factual background
In December 2018, the second respondent, Horse Hill Developments Ltd, sought planning permission from the first respondent, Surrey County Council (“the Council”), to retain and expand an existing onshore oil well site and to drill for four new wells, enabling the production of hydrocarbons from six wells over a period of 25 years. The environmental impact assessment for the project had to be carried out under the Town and Country Planning (Environmental Impact Assessment) Regulations 2017 (which implemented the Directive 2011/92 EU).
The Council considered the environmental impacts of “the direct releases of greenhouse gases from with the well site boundary resulting from the site’s construction, production, decommissioning and subsequent restoration over the lifetime of the proposed development.” However, it did not assess the environmental impacts of the downstream greenhouse gas emissions that would inevitably result when the oil extracted from the development site was later refined and then used, for example, as fuel. The developer argued that, as regards the impact of the project on climate, the scope of the EIA should be confined to the direct releases of greenhouse gases from within the well site boundary during the lifetime of the project; and that the EIA need not include an assessment of the greenhouse gas emissions that would occur when the oil extracted from the wells was ultimately burnt elsewhere as fuel. The council accepted this approach and granted planning permission for the development on 27 September 2019. The appellant, acting on behalf of a local action group, applied for judicial review of the Council’s decision. Her claim was unsuccessful before the High Court and the Court of Appeal. This was her appeal to the Supreme Court
The question that the Court had to decide was this. Was it unlawful for the Council not to require the environmental impact assessment for a project of crude oil extraction for commercial purposes to include an assessment of the impacts of downstream greenhouse gas emissions resulting from the eventual use of the refined products of the extracted oil?
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1 March 2011 by Adam Wagner
Proposals for much-criticised powers which would have given ministers broad powers to alter statutes with little or no debate are to be dropped.
The proposed changes were dubbed “Henry VIII” powers as they would have given the executive powers similar to those of the 16th century tyrant. Lord Taylor of Holbeach told the House of Lords:
I can confirm to the House that the government have accepted the arguments that bodies and offices should be listed in the schedules of this Bill only where Parliament has given its consent in primary legislation.
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26 February 2019 by Rosalind English
Ninan v Findlay and others [2019] EWHC 297 (Ch), 21 February 2019
The claimant, Mrs Ninian, is the sole beneficiary of the residue of the estate of her late husband Mr Ninian under his will. Mr Ninian, who suffered from a progressive incurable disease, died on 16 November 2017 with the assistance of Dignitas in Switzerland. Mrs Ninian was with him throughout the trip to Switzerland, his assessment by representatives of Dignitas and the occasion of his suicide.
Shortly before the trip to Dignitas, Mrs Ninian applied for relief against forfeiture under section 2 of the Forfeiture Act 1982 on the basis that steps taken by her may have amounted to encouraging or assisting her husband to commit suicide which brought in play the forfeiture rule.
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8 February 2011 by Adam Wagner
I posted last week on the interesting and morally complex case in which a judge in the Court of Protection ruled that a 41-year-old man with a mild learning disability did not have the mental capacity to consent to sex and should be prevented by a local council from doing so.
The
Daily Telegraph and
Daily Mail have picked up on this story. The Mail’s Richard Hartley-Parkinson appears to have based his article solely on the Telegraph’s, in light of this paragraph:
Mr Justice Mostyn said the case threw up issues ‘legally, intellectually and morally’ because sex is ‘one of the most basic human functions’ according to the Daily Telegraph.
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15 January 2010 by Guest Contributor
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1 October 2017 by Rosalind English
XX v Whittington Hospital NHS Trust 2017 EWHC 2318 (QB) (18 September 2017) [HQ15C04535]
Podcast about this case now downloadable
Commercial surrogacy arrangements are considered to be against public policy in the UK and therefore illegal. Surrogacy in the UK is only legal where there is no intention to make a profit – though reasonable expenses are recoverable. Where legal surrogacy is
carried out the surrogate mother is the legal mother of the child. In this case the claimant had suffered injury due to the hospital’s failure to diagnose her cervical cancer in time. She had to undergo chemotherapy and radiation treatment which, amongst other things, damaged her uterus so she was unable to bear and carry a child. Before the treatment she had her eggs frozen.
The hospital admitted negligence. As part of her damages claim she sought the expenses she would incur for a commercial surrogacy arrangement in California. She wished to go to the US since the position of a woman seeking surrogacy in the UK is made more difficult by the fact that commercial arrangements are illegal. This means that in the UK the surrogate chooses the biological mother, rather than the other way around. The lack of certainty over parental status was also cited as a reason why an arrangement in the US would be preferable.
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19 March 2021 by Marina Wheeler QC
Many of the newly vaccinated booked their appointments with gusto and left with a sense of elation. For others the process wasn’t so simple. We see a snapshot of this in a handful of reported cases from the Court of Protection:
Re E [2021] EWCOP 7; SD v RBKC [2021] EWCOP 14; and Re CR [2021] EWCOP 19
In these cases, examined below, the relatives of three care home residents lacking medical capacity, objected to their receiving the vaccine against Covid-19. The CoP applied the requirements of the Mental Capacity Act 2005 and ruled, in each case, that the resident patient’s best interests favoured vaccination.
Mrs E was 80, suffered from dementia and schizophrenia. Her GP approached the subject of the vaccine, but found her unable to understand the nature of the virus, the risks it posed, or the factors weighing for and against vaccination. He considered she lacked capacity but that vaccination was in her best interests. Her accredited legal representative agreed, but her son did not, so the Court was called on to rule.
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28 April 2020 by Emma-Louise Fenelon
In the latest Law Pod UK episode, Emma-Louise Fenelon speaks to Rajkiran Barhey about the the most recent issue of the Quarterly Law Medical Review.
The QMLR covers developments in medical law in the broadest sense – clinical negligence, inquest, regulatory, judicial review and court of protection cases.
In Episode 109 we touch on some of the highlights from the most recent issue including articles from:
John Whitting QC on causation,
Suzanne Lambert on informed consent,
Jeremy Hyam QC on gender reassignment in prison,
Rajkiran Barhey on NICE Guidelines and the use of screens in inquests, and Jo Moore on the recent changes to statements of truth and witness statements.
The following cases are mentioned in this episode:
Get the latest case updates by following on twitter @1corQMLR and find previous issues on the 1COR website under ‘Newsletter’.
Law Pod UK is available on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Audioboom, Player FM, ListenNotes, Podbean, iHeart, Radio Public, Deezer or wherever you listen to our podcasts.
Please remember to rate and review us if you like what you hear.
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10 July 2012 by Rosalind English
Transpetrol v Slovakia, Application no. 28502/08 – read judgment
The facts of this case can be stated very briefly, since the main (and most interesting) question before the Curt was whether the applicant company constituted a “victim” of a human rights violation under the Convention.
The applicant s a joint-stock company trading in oil. In the past, including at the time of the contested judgment of the Constitutional Court, the state owned 51% of the shares in the applicant company. The remaining shares were owned by private parties. At present all of the shares in the company are owned by the state.
The application before the Court concerned the fairness of proceedings before the Constitutional Court regarding the ownership of shares in the company. The applicant company complained that the proceedings were contrary to its rights under Article 6(1) (fair trial) of the Convention and Article 1 of Protocol No. 1 (peaceful enjoyment of possessions). The complaint was dismissed under Article 34 as being inadmissible (incompatible ratione personae, i.e. the status of the applicant). For the purposes of clarity, here is the relevant text of Article 34:
The Court may receive applications from any person, non-governmental organisation or group of individuals claiming to be the victim of a violation by one of the High Contracting Parties of the rights set forth in the Convention or the Protocols thereto.
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3 December 2009 by Guest Contributor
The UK Human Rights Blog aims to provide a free, comprehensive and balanced legal update service. Our intention is not to campaign on any particular issue, but rather to present both sides of the argument on issues which are often highly controversial. We post on a huge range of legal issues, from human rights, to public, medical and environmental law.
Jasper Gold is the Blog’s Commissioning Editor, with Allyna Ng as Editing Assistant and an Editorial Team comprising Rosalind English, Angus McCullough KC, David Hart KC, Martin Downs, Jim Duffy and Jonathan Metzer.
The Blog is written by members of 1 Crown Office Row. Its searchable archive of case reports and comments dating back to 1998 (when the acclaimed Human Rights Update service was launched) is freely available. The Blog also delivers a weekly Rights Round-up, written by our talented team of recent law graduates. We welcome posts from legal academics as well as practising lawyers.
In May 2017 the podcast series Law Pod UK was introduced alongside the Blog, featuring lively interviews with members of Chambers on caselaw and general legal developments.
Adam Wagner founded the Blog in 2010. The Blog has had over 6 million hits and averages well over 500,000 hits a year. The blog also has thousands of subscribers across email, Facebook and Twitter. It is regularly acclaimed by commentators and cited by leading lights in the legal community.
If you like the Blog, please do subscribe to our regular email updates. Law Pod UK episodes are freely available for download from Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Audioboom and many more platforms.
We would welcome your comments.
Editorial team
Jasper Gold
1 Crown Office Row
Jasper is developing a broad practice and accepts instructions in all chambers’ practice areas. As well as clinical negligence, public law, discrimination, data law, inquests and tax, Jasper gained experience as a pupil in commercial disputes and is comfortable with cases containing contractual or other commercial elements.
Since joining 1COR, Jasper has undertaken advocacy in the high court, county court and coronial court. He has appeared in several inquests, including ‘Article 2’ and jury inquests. He is currently instructed as junior counsel to the Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police in the Undercover Policing Inquiry, and is the Co-Commissioning Editor of the UK Human Rights Blog.
Twitter: @JasperSGold
Full C.V.
Allyna Ng
1 Crown Office Row
Allyna joined Chambers as a tenant in April 2025, following a probationary tenancy under the supervision of Amy Mannion KC, Shahram Sharghy, and Rachel Marcus.
Allyna is building experience in all of Chambers’ practice areas including public law and human rights, education, employment, and inquests and inquiries.
Prior to coming to the Bar, Allyna practised as a lawyer in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia where she handled a variety of matters in all aspects of civil litigation. In her role, Allyna worked on cases involving freedom of religion, judicial review applications, defamation, and misfeasance in public office. Allyna has appeared in the Sessions Court, High Court, and the Industrial Tribunal, and assisted in cases before the Court of Appeal in Malaysia.
Full C.V.
Rosalind English
1 Crown Office Row
Rosalind English is one of the editors of the UK Human Rights Blog. She also presents Law Pod UK, a series of podcasts on legal developments relevant to Chambers work.
She teaches law at Cambridge University Institute of Continuing Education.
Twitter: @rosalindenglish
Full C.V.
Angus McCullough KC
1 Crown Office Row
Angus McCullough has a varied practice which covers public law (including human rights), professional negligence, regulatory and disciplinary law, and the environment. He has acted as a special advocate in many of the most high profile national security cases in recent times (e.g. Abu Qatada, Ekaterina Zatuliveter, Al Jedda). Instructed by the Attorney General, he has appeared in contempt of court applications against the press and jurors (including the ‘Facebook juror‘ and the first internet press contempt case to be brought). He is also a recognised expert in medical law: complex and high value medical claims constitute a major part of his practice and in 2009, the year before taking silk, he was named ‘Personal Injury and Clinical Negligence Junior of the Year by Chambers & Partners. Before becoming a QC in 2010 he was on the panel of Treasury Counsel (A list from 2001-2010).
Twitter: @amccqc
Full C.V.
Martin Downs
1 Crown Office Row
Martin Downs practises in the field of equality and human rights. He has co-authored two books about Civil Partnership and Same-Sex Marriage and is a regular contributor to Family Law and Tolley’s Employment Law. He lectures on employment, equality, education and family law amongst other subjects and has made a number of media appearances – particularly about radicalisation.
He is very interested in the history, culture and politics of South Asia as well as Ireland. He tweets on legal matters too.
Twitter: @MartinJDowns
Full CV.
David Hart KC
1 Crown Office Row
David Hart practises in environmental law, medical law (particularly clinical negligence), professional negligence and construction. He has also appeared at a number of major public inquiries. David has particular experience of group actions in the environmental field and in medical cases.
He has been Chair of the Environmental Law Foundation since 2016, and has done pro bono work for them. He sat on a Research Ethics Committee at St Thomas’ Hospital for 10 years, and he has a particular interest in genetics. He is an accredited mediator. He has been a regular contributor to the Blog for the last 5 years, on all subjects under the sun.
Twitter: @hart_david
Full CV.
Jim Duffy
1 Crown Office Row
Jim was the Blog’s Commissioning Editor in 2017. His practice spans human rights, inquests, clinical negligence and employment law. Before transferring to the Bar in 2012, Jim was a solicitor whose work involved human rights cases on behalf of Iraqi civilians, British soldiers, jobseekers and immigrants.
After becoming a tenant at 1 Crown Office Row, he acted as Judicial Assistant to Lord Reed and Lord Hodge at the UK Supreme Court in 2013-14.
Twitter: @JimDuffy12
Full C.V.
Jonathan Metzer
1 Crown Office Row
Jonathan joined chambers as a tenant in September 2017 after completion of 12 months of pupillage. He has a broad practice across all areas of chambers’ work, with particular expertise in public and human rights law, asylum and immigration, clinical negligence and inquests. He appears regularly in the County Court, the Coroner’s Court and the Immigration Tribunals, and has also undertaken hearings in the High Court.
Before coming to the Bar, Jonathan undertook voluntary work at The Death Penalty Project, Simons, Muirhead & Burton LLP. He also worked on a pro bono basis for the School Exclusion Project, acting as lay legal representative for the parents of excluded pupils at hearings in front of school governors and independent review panels. Jonathan was the Blog’s Commissioning Editor from 2017-2022.
Twitter:
Full C.V.
Founding Editor: Adam Wagner
Adam was the founding editor of the UK Human Rights Blog. He was longlisted for the 2011 Orwell Prize for blogging. He is a tenant at Doughty Street, specialising in public law, human rights and medical law. In 2015 he set up RightsInfo, an innovative new website that aims to bring human rights to life using infographics, stories and social media.
Twitter: @adamwagner1
About 1 Crown Office Row
1COR is a leading set of civil law Chambers. We are recognised as having leading practitioners in all aspects of healthcare law, clinical negligence and personal injury, professional disciplinary proceedings, public and administrative law, human rights, employment, professional negligence, costs, matrimonial finance, VAT and environmental law. We also have a team of 15 accredited mediators. You can read more about 1COR by clicking here.
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4 July 2014 by Guest Contributor
Rutherford and Ors v Secretary of State for Work and Pensions [2014] EWHC 1613 (Admin) – Read judgement here.
At the end of May, the High Court ruled that the reduction in Housing Benefit under Regulation B13 of Housing Benefit (Amendment) Regulations – commonly dubbed “the bedroom tax” – did not unlawfully discriminate against a family with a disabled child requiring an additional bedroom for overnight careers because the shortfall was covered by discretionary housing payments.
The case involved three Claimants: Mr and Mrs Rutherford and their 14-year-old grandson Warren. Warren suffers from a profound disability requiring 24-hour care from at least two people. Mr and Mrs Rutherford need the assistance of two paid careers for two nights a week. The family live in a three-bedroom bungalow rented from a housing association and specifically adapted to meet Warren’s needs. Mr and Mrs Rutherford sleep in one room, Warren in another, and a third room is used as a bedroom for overnight carers and to store medical equipment.
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