A young child was very severely ill, and his life threatened from his illness. His doctors together considered that further treatment was not in his interests. They sought an order that in the event of future respiratory of cardiac failure, they should be free not to resuscitate him. His parents asserted that this infringed the child’s human rights.
Held: The UK law position is that the child’s interests are paramount. A death with dignity would not infringe his human rights. The question concerned steps being taken or not to prolong life, not to shorten it.
Citations:
Times 19-Jul-2000
Statutes:
European Convention on Human Rights
Health, Human Rights
Updated: 15 May 2022; Ref: scu.77581
