Introduction
Here on this page we will maintain a list of court judgments under the ADMC legislation, and will include a brief overview of the nature of the decision together with a link to the full text of the decision on the Courts Service website.
Governor of A Prison v. X.Y. [2023] IEHC 361 (Barniville P.)
High Court grants declarations sought by Prison Governor and declares it is lawful not to force feed a prisoner refusing food and drink and medical treatment, on the grounds that: (1) the prisoner had and continues to have the capacity to refuse food, drink and medical treatment; and (2) the prisoner signed an advance health care directive, and therefore it is lawful for medical intervention to not be administered even where the prisoner may lose capacity – the advance healthcare directive should remain in place in those circumstances.
Read full text of judgment on courts.ie >
In re C.F. [2023] IEHC 321 (Barniville P.)
High Court, in exercise of the wards of court jurisdiction, refuses to make order consenting to the amputation of the leg of a 74-year-old man lacking capacity to give consent to such an operation, on the grounds that: (a) while there was a presumption in favour of maintaining life, it was rebuttable; (b) while the amputation might be life-saving, there was considerable evidence that the patient would suffer ‘catastrophic mental distress’ if the operation were to proceed; (c) the patient himself had expressed his opposition to the amputation; and (d) a programme of palliative care arrangement had been put in place for the patient.
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In the matter of KK [2023] IEHC 306 (Hyland J.)
High Court, in wardship proceedings, examining whether the court can make a detention order under the inherent jurisdiction of the High Court after the commencement of assisted decision-making legislation, finds that: (1) the acknowledged power of the wardship court to make new detention orders under an old statute has not survived the more recent assisted decision-making legislation, but such an Order can be made in principal under the inherent jurisdiction of the High Court; (2) the jurisdiction vested by statute must be read in light of the new legislation as important new rules are introduced to the detention of wards of court; (3) and there is no longer a power to make a detention order in respect of existing wards post the commencement of the statute.
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Last Updated: 3 October 2023