All books in this flagship series contain carefully selected substantial extracts from key cases, legislation, and academic debate, providing students with a stand-alone resource. This chapter examines the issue of ‘informed consent’, i.e. how much information must be provided to patients before they consent to medical treatment. It first considers the ethical justifications for informing patients about their medical treatment and then examines the legal framework that protects patients’ interests in information disclosure, with particular emphasis upon the implications of the recent landmark Supreme Court case of Montgomery v Lanarkshire. The chapter also explores some alternatives to the law of tort, and the importance of the guidance produced by the medical profession.
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This chapter examines ‘informed consent’, and the question of how much information must be provided to patients before they consent to medical treatment. It first considers the ethical justifications for informing patients and then examines the legal framework that protects patients’ interests in information disclosure. The chapter also explores some alternatives to the law of tort, and the guidance produced by the medical profession.
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This chapter examines the privacy action in tort. It explains that the tort has its origins in the equitable wrong of breach of confidence. It discusses the gist and elements of this tort and highlights the influence of Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights on the case law. The law now protects against infringements of private information and against infringements upon the seclusion of the individual. This chapter also discusses potential defences, which include consent to the disclosure and the differential treatment of private information in the public domain.
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G. T. Laurie, S. H. E. Harmon, and E. S. Dove
This chapter discusses ethical and legal aspects of patient consent. It covers the limits to consent (including the context of the unconscious patient and adults lacking capacity); the refusal of treatment by capacitous adults and others; the consequences of proceeding without consent; and the negligence action and the vagaries of information disclosure.
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Stuart Bell, Donald McGillivray, Ole W. Pedersen, Emma Lees, and Elen Stokes
This chapter introduces the system of environmental regulation by building upon Ch. 4, which examined the sources of environmental law. In practice, environmental regulation involves more than the use of legal rules that forbid pollution and other forms of environmental harm. ‘Regulation’ is used to describe a wide range of different tools used in both legal and non-legal contexts—for example, it covers mandatory rules contained in environmental legislation, as well as non-binding environmental standards. The chapter outlines some of the reasons for regulating to protect the environment, before explaining how such regulation is introduced, applied, enforced, and reviewed. It examines the characteristics, strengths, and weaknesses of different approaches to standard-setting and the various instruments used to regulate potentially environmentally damaging activities. The chapter discusses several trends in modern environmental regulation, including the policy emphasis on deregulation and the use of information disclosure as a means of governing group or individual behaviour.
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This chapter deals with consent as a necessary precondition for medical treatment of competent adults. It provides an overview of the common law basis of the Mental Capacity Act 2005, followed by discussion of issues relating to information disclosure, public policy, and the key case of Montgomery and how this applies to more recent cases. It considers the statutory provisions for adults who lack capacity, exceptions to the requirement to treat patients who lack capacity in their best interests, and consent involving children under the Children Act 1989. Gillick competence, a concept applied to determine whether a child may give consent, is also explained. Relevant case law, including Gillick, which gave rise to the concept, are cited where appropriate.
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Without assuming prior legal knowledge, books in the Directions series introduce and guide readers through key points of law and legal debate. It discusses European Convention law and relates it to domestic law under the HRA. Questions, discussion points, and thinking points help readers to engage fully with each subject and check their understanding as they progress and knowledge can be tested by self-test questions and exam questions at the chapter end. This chapter focuses on the authority of the police in the United Kingdom and on issues which are affected by human rights law under the HRA. Police powers are exercised with the authority of both common law and statute—the latter (e.g. the Police and Public Evidence Act 1984) must be interpreted for compatibility with Convention rights so far as section 3 HRA allows. The police are considered a ‘core’ public authority, and policing is self-evidently a public function. The following sections also discuss the extensive powers of the police in relation to, in particular, Article 5, regarding arrest and detention, and Article 8, regarding searches and seizure. English and Welsh courts adjudicating on these powers have generally found them to be compatible with Convention rights at the general level. Some important cases, such as over the retention, storage and use of personal data, have led to disagreements with Strasbourg and consequential changes to the law.
