In this new chapter to the 7th edition, we examine criminal law and medical negligence, asking when a doctor’s malpractice engages criminal liability. The role of the criminal law in addressing medical malpractice is contested. The decision in the case of rogue breast surgeon Ian Paterson opens the door to an increased possibility that non-fatal malpractice may result in prosecution, eliminating the element of moral luck inherent in gross negligence manslaughter. And the recent case of Dr Bawa-Garba raises serious questions about the impact of the criminal process on healthcare practice.

This chapter looks at two dimensions of consent to medical treatment. When an adult is incapable of deciding for themselves whether or not to agree to treatment, how can treatment be lawfully authorised on their behalf? If an adult refuses to agree to treatment, can that refusal be overruled, either on the grounds that the patient ‘irrationally’ refused treatment which was in their interests, or because, untreated, their physical or mental condition threatens the safety of other people?

The single certainty in human life is that we shall die. Death cannot be evaded, albeit it may be delayed. Medical technology has created real questions about just how we identify the threshold between dying but alive, and death itself. The development of transplantation played a major role in prompting doctors to rethink definitions of death. It would be wrong to conclude that a desire to maximise the number of viable organs suitable for transplant is the only or the most important factor in the imperative need to define the moment of death. The question is far from straightforward and a legal definition of death is required for several purposes.

This chapter considers patient rights. The first part of the chapter focuses on the European Convention on Human Rights and its impact on domestic medical law. The second part considers access to healthcare and resource allocation.

Questions of medical ethics arise throughout the whole field of medical practice. This chapter considers to whom (or what) we owe ethical obligations. It sets out a range of ethical principles, their potential conflict and how conflict can be navigated.

This chapter considers ethical and legal developments around informed consent. The right of the patient, who is sufficiently rational and mature to understand what is entailed in treatment, to decide for themselves whether to agree to that treatment is a basic human right. The right to autonomy, to self-rule rather than rule by others, is endorsed by ethicists as a right to patient autonomy. The law has changed significantly in recent times, limiting medical paternalism and promoting patient-centred care.

This first empirical chapter presents the adoption process and the implementation of the Serbian anti-discrimination legal framework between 2001 and 2015. It provides an overview of how Serbia’s rapprochement with international society and its European integration process has led to the adoption of different legislation prohibiting discrimination and hate crimes. It is argued that there were three distinct phases in the adoption of the anti-discrimination framework in Serbia, each with particular configurations of domestic and international politics, and it has been these configurations that have been an important explanation for the observed outcomes-in-process. The first phase (2001–05) is characterised by Serbia’s initial democratisation and limited political attention to anti-discrimination principles. The second phase (2005–09) sees the politicisation of LGBT issues, as well as the adoption of the anti-discrimination law following a pro-European political shift. The final phase is characterised by the continued expansion of the anti-discrimination framework as tactical Europeanisation. Overall, the chapter demonstrates the importance of a non-EU centric approach to the analysis of the Europeanisation of the anti-discrimination policies with regard to LGBT rights. It is argued that the different phases in the process and the respective outcomes-in-process are the results of the changing relations between the different actors in the transnational policy field as well as the intertwining of different policy fields. Highlighting the centrality of the agency of domestic actors, the chapter also argues that conditionality is better conceived of as a facilitator rather than a driver of change.

We set out the Abortion Act 1967 that applies in England, Wales and Scotland, considering its background, current application, recent reform of access to early medical abortion and proposals for additional reform.

In this chapter, we examine the law governing doctors’ relationships with child patients. The courts are often asked to determine the fate of sick children when doctors and parents disagree about how best to care for the child. Several recent cases (eg Gard, Evans, Haastrup, Raqeeb) attracted publicity when parents and the medical team disagreed about whether to withdraw or maintain life support for young children. Some cases involve, not disagreement between doctors and parents, but disputes between parents themselves. On the opposite side of the coin, are there limits to treatment to which a parent may agree on behalf of the child? As a child matures, common sense dictates that they be allowed to take more decisions for themselves. Gillick appeared to establish a right to adolescent autonomy. It proved to be an odd sort of ‘right’, a right to say yes but not to say no.