In a guest post, Simon Hunter of Three Stone Chambers looks at a recent – and tragic – case in the Court of Protection

Abortion and the difficult question of when life starts have been regularly in the news in recent years, particularly in the United States, where ongoing debates about women’s reproductive rights are increasingly at the forefront of political conversations. However, the end of life can sometimes lead to equally difficult questions about when a person ceases to be, in any meaningful sense, alive.

The medical case

In Re XY [2024] EWCOP 37 Mr Justice Hayden was called on to consider the best interests of a patient at the end of his life. XY, a 66-year-old man, was admitted to the hospital in December 2023 with pneumonia, and whilst there he suffered a cardiac arrest. Had that happened at home he would likely have died, but the medical staff at the hospital were able to resuscitate him. Over the subsequent days, however, he suffered from significant multi-organ failure and entered a prolonged disorder of consciousness.[1] Continue reading →