The impact of the Human Rights Act 1998 on medical decision making
October 2000
Which human rights are relevant?
Article 6 - Right to a fair trial
1. In the determination of his civil rights and obligations or of any criminal charge against him, everyone is entitled to a fair and public hearing within a reasonable time by an independent and impartial tribunal established by law. Judgment shall be pronounced publicly but the press and public may be excluded from all or part of the trial in the interest of morals, public order or national security in a democratic society, where the interests of juveniles or the protection of the private life of the parties so require, or to the extent strictly necessary in the opinion of the court in special circumstances where publicity would prejudice the interests of justice.
It has been suggested that one of the effects of Article 6 will be to make it more common for Trusts to apply to the courts for declarations about the provision or withholding of treatment (Parsons N, Glendening J.The Human Rights Act 1998: Consent to Treatment, NHSLA Review Human Rights - Special Edition, Issue 19, Summer 2000 pp.12-13.). Some lawyers express scepticism about this use of Article 6 and further information on this point will be made available once this point has been clarified.
Article 6 - Summary
It has been suggested that Article 6 will be used to seek more frequent court declarations about the provision or withholding of medical treatment although this suggestion has been rejected by some lawyers.
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