Deciding not to sustain life - a note on the system in Texas, USA.

Cases such as Charlie Gard and Alfie Evans highlight to the general public the fact that, where caring parents and doctors disagree over appropriate treatment for a child, the judges of the Family Division of the High Court are the ones entrusted with making the decision about what is in the child's "best interests."   The "best interests" test has recently been described by the Supreme Court as the "gold standard" and the court commented that, in this type of case, the test "needs to apply to them without qualification."

These very difficult situations raise numerous legal and ethical questions.  This post takes a brief look at one alternative and controversial process for making such decisions although I do not advocate its adoption here.

Lay Magistrates at bay / The dire legal aid system

Cambridge Magistrates' Court

"Lay justice is a powerful expression of community participation in the regulation of society."

This week Criminal Law and Justice Weekly ceased publication.  For the last 182 years this "quiet" publication has recorded changes in the criminal justice arena.   It is noted for "quality" articles - e.g. Modern Slavery Act: Who bears the burden of proof? - and will be missed.

John Cooper QC commented about the closure by saying- "The final demise of CL and J is perhaps a salutary lesson for many of us. I will predict that in some years time, may be even sooner, practitioners will ask “why isn’t there a weekly publication devoted to crime and the criminal justice system?” And comparisons will be made with other legal disciplines who have their own titles. Well let me answer that question now, before you ask it...... “ you had one, and you lost it."

Interestingly, CL and J sprang from an earlier publication "Justice of the Peace." 

Alfie Evans ~ a profoundly sad and difficult situation

The courts are called upon to make difficult decisions touching on all aspects of our human existence but the most profoundly difficult decisions are in those tragic cases where a child is in hospital with an incurable condition. 

Alfie Evans was born on 9th May 2016 and is on venitlatory support at Alder Hey NHS Foundation Trust Hospital.  The Hospital Trust sought a declaration from the High Court that continuing the support was no longer in Alfie's best interests and that in the circumstances it is not lawful that such treatment continue.

Windrush

In a House of Commons debate on the Immigration Bill held on 30th January 2014, Diane Abbott MP (Labour) said to the then Home Secretary (Theresa May MP):

" I accept the Home Secretary’s wish to clean up the system and discourage people from “playing” it - I deal with thousands of immigration cases every month - but has she given no thought to the effect that her measures that are designed to crack down on illegal immigrants could have on people who are British nationals, but appear as if they might be immigrants?"

In the face of Barbarism (2)

The previous post - In the face of Barbarism (1) - looked at the use of chemical weapons in Syria and the recent air strikes by the USA, UK and France.  The moral position is, to my mind, beyond doubt.  Action was needed to try to degrade the chemical weapon capability available to the Syrian government and, for the future, greater action is needed to resume the Geneva peace-process which was discontinued in December 2017.

The clarity of the moral position is not matched by international law.  The UN Charter requires collective action to deal with threats to peace rather than, as in the past, States deciding to "do their own thing" but a void exists in cases where a permanent member of the UN Security Council will not support proposed action.  Attempts to fill that void have led to States using alternative justifications for the use of force such as "humanitarian intervention."   This has been used by British governments on a number of occasions (e.g. Kosovo) but such alternative arguments are far from universally accepted.  This post looks at this further and then looks at the question of the role of Parliament regarding military action abroad by British Forces. 

In the face of barbarism (1)

Recent events in Syria have acutely raised the question of how the world is to deal with the barbarism of chemical weapons.  Gas as a weapon came to the forefront at the Second Battle of Ypres in April 1915 - (Youtube - video).  Today, its use is prohibited by the Chemical Weapons Convention which most nations (including Russia and Syria) have accepted as binding.

Syria and Chemical Weapons:

"Ant" McPartlin fined £86,000 for excess alcohol offence

On 18th March 2018, following a road traffic accident, Anthony David "Ant" McPartlin was arrested on suspicion of driving with excess alcohol contrary to the Road Traffic Act 1988 section 5.  On 16th April, at Wimbledon Magistrates' Court, Mr McPartlin pleaded guilty and was fined £86,000 and disqualified for 20 months - see The Telegraph 16th April.   Mr McPartlin's income was said to be around £130,000 per week.  The charge stated that he had 75 microgrammes of alcohol in 100 millilitres of breath - the legal limit is 35 microgrammes per 100 millilitres of breath.

For offences committed on or after 12th March 2015, a Level 5 fine in the Magistrates' Court is unlimited (in most cases) as opposed to the previous usual maximum of £5,000.  See the Regulations effecting the change.

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