Chair's Column

Medical treatment – Minor aged 16. The applicant NHS Trust succeeded on its (without notice) application for the approval of a plan for the proposed treatment of the respondent, aged 16, who had refused treatment for a life-threatening condition known as diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA). The Family Division, in allowing the application, held that it was in B's best interests to receive the proposed treatment, in circumstances where, if left untreated, the DKA would be fatal to her.

Medical treatment – Future mental incapacity. The proceedings gave rise to a novel issue, concerning the respondent (CD), a 27-year-old woman who was diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia, because, while it was common ground that she did not currently lack capacity to make decisions in respect of the birth of her baby and the associated treatment, her clinicians considered that there was a substantial risk that she might become incapacitous in relation to such decisions at a critical moment in her labour. The Court of Protection, in allowing the applicant NHS Trust's application for a contingent and anticipatory declaration, authorising a care plan in respect of CD, held that, in the exceptional circumstances, the court had the power to make such a declaration, contingent on CD losing capacity, pursuant to s 15(1)(c) of the Mental Capacity Act 2005. The court further ruled that, where a court was making such an order, it was necessary for it to be made in the declaration itself, and that such a declaration should be made on the face of the court order.

Company – Shares. The parties' applications for summary judgment in a dispute concerning the sale of a company were largely unsuccessful. The Commercial Court held that, among other things, while the paragraph in issue of the share purchase agreement between the parties was a condition precedent, there were disputes of a factual nature as to whether or not the condition precedent to an expert determination has been satisfied, which were of a type which made the case unsuitable for summary judgment.

Libel and slander – Defamatory words. Applying settled law to the facts, an article published in the Times Newspaper, in its true meaning, was defamatory of the claimant senior prosecutor's professional reputation at common law and had a tendency to cause serious harm to her professional reputation. The Queen's Bench Division so ruled in considering three preliminary issues which arose for determination in a libel action. The article in question concerned the decision to prosecute the English cricketer, Ben Stokes, who was later found not guilty of affray in relation an incident outside a nightclub in Bristol.

Religion – Discrimination. In dismissing the appellant student's claim for judicial review of a decision to remove him from a social work course for the expression of religious views on social media, the judge had premised his decision on an incorrect finding. That finding was that the respondent University was not suggesting a blanket ban on the freedom of expression of those who might be called 'traditional believers'. The Court of Appeal, Civil Division, allowed the appellant's appeal and held that the disciplinary proceedings were flawed and unfair and the matter would be remitted to a differently constituted fitness to practice panel.