Brown Jonathan, Christie Sarah
Oxf J Leg Stud. 2020 Sep 3;40(4):682-707. doi: 10.1093/ojls/gqaa019. eCollection 2020 Winter.
The cases of Charlie Gard and Alfie Evans placed the withdrawal of treatment from terminally ill infants at the forefront of medical law and ethics. In the medico-legal context, Scottish court procedures materially differ from those in England. This article considers these differences in light of the possibility that a similar case might soon be called before the Scottish courts. The Court of Session would then be required to consider whether to utilise its jurisdiction to consent to the withdrawal of treatment as if it were the parent of the infant. The operation of this jurisdiction is such that the outcome of any Scottish case cannot be said to be certain, as the Scottish courts are bound to pay more heed to parental autonomy than their English counterparts do.
查理·加德和阿尔菲·埃文斯的案例将对绝症婴儿停止治疗的问题推到了医疗法律和伦理的前沿。在医疗法律背景下，苏格兰的法庭程序与英格兰的有很大不同。鉴于类似案件可能很快会提交到苏格兰法庭，本文探讨了这些差异。届时，苏格兰最高民事法院将被要求考虑是否行使其管辖权，像婴儿的父母一样同意停止治疗。这一管辖权的运作方式使得任何苏格兰案件的结果都不能说是确定的，因为苏格兰法庭必然比英格兰法庭更注重父母的自主权。
