A growing number of controversial legal questions about health care focus on the treatment of children. The [in]famous House of Lords judgment in the Gillick case touched on the rights of older children to make their own decisions about their bodies and their health. Today the courts face dilemmas concerning children of all ages, from before birth right up to the age of majority. This course examines how the law responds to difficult ethical and practical questions about how society treats children, what rights (if any) children enjoy, and what rights and responsibilities we assume as parents. The course will begin by considering the ways in which the law does and should regulate the treatment of the unborn and its relationship with the outside world, examining the broad range of issues relating to the treatment of children after birth.
This module looks at areas of law where health care law, criminal law and family law meet. It will embrace not just disputes between professionals and parents, but between parents and their children, and between warring currents. Each session will be based on a full outline and reading list and plenty of opportunity of class discussion will be offered.