A different kind of death? Barts NHS Trust v Dance and Battersbee
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Date
2023-04-19
Authors
Lyons , Barry
Donnelly, Mary
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
SAGE Publishing
Published Version
Abstract
The case of Archie Battersbee, a 12-year-old boy who suffered a catastrophic hypoxic brain injury, was the subject of several Family Division and Appeal Court hearings between April and August 2022. During the protracted legal process, appeals were made by the family to the Supreme Court, the European Court of Human Rights, and the United Nations’ Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD Committee). These were unsuccessful in achieving a stay on the withdrawal of life-sustaining interventions, whose continuance the Family Division of the High Court had found not to be in Archie’s best interests. This commentary focuses on two novel aspects of the proceedings: the Court of Appeal’s overturning of Arbuthnot J’s conclusion that Archie was brainstem dead, and the CRPD Committee’s intervention in response to the family’s appeal.
Description
Keywords
Brainstem death , CRPD , Best interests
Citation
Lyons, B. and Donnelly, M. (2023) 'A different kind of death? Barts NHS Trust v Dance and Battersbee', Medical Law International, 23(2), pp. 159-173. doi: 10.1177/09685332231159363