Abbasi Case: Injunctions on Child Life-Sustaining Treatment

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UKSC/2023/0052

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FAMILY

Abbasi and another (Respondents) v Newcastle upon Tyne Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (Appellant)

Judgment given

Contents

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Case summary

Case ID

UKSC/2023/0052

Parties

Appellant(s)

Newcastle upon Tyne Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust

Respondent(s)

Rashid Maqsood Abbasi

Aliya Abbasi

Intervener(s)

British Medical Association

The Faculty of Intensive Care Medicine

Royal College of Nursing

Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health

The Paediatric Critical Care Society

The Free Speech Union Ltd

Issue

On what basis can injunctions, granted in connection with proceedings initiated to determine whether it is in a child’s best interests that life-sustaining treatment should be withdrawn, be continued once those proceedings have ended?

Facts

Rashid and Aliya Abbasi, the respondents in the first appeal, are the parents of Zainab who was six years old when she died on 16 September 2019. Lanre Haastrup and Takesha Thomas, the respondents in the second appeal, are the parents of Isaiah who died on 7 March 2018. Zainab and Isaiah were in the care of the respective appellants.

Indefinite injunctions were granted by the court in both cases. The purpose and effect of these injunctions is primarily to protect the identities of those involved in the care of a patient in respect of whom an application to withdraw treatment is made. In Zainab’s case, they cannot name the small cohort of medical professionals protected by the injunction or give away information that would enable them to be identified. In Isaiah’s case, the range of medical staff protected is wider.

The parents appealed against the orders made by the President of the Family Division, which allowed the continuation of the injunctions, on the basis that they now have the effect of preventing the parents meaningfully discussing or writing publicly about the circumstances in which their respective children were treated and died, or mainstream media from doing so if the parents were to spark interest in the circumstances of the cases. The continuation of the injunctions involved a balancing exercise between the competing article 8 rights (which concern the right to privacy) of the hospital staff and the article 10 rights (which concern the right to freedom of expression) of the parents.

The Court of Appeal discharged the injunctions, with that order stayed pending an appeal to the Supreme Court. The appellants now appeal to the Supreme Court.

Date of issue

29 April 2023

Judgment appealed

[2023] EWCA Civ 331 HTML

Linked cases

UKSC/2023/0053 Haastrup (Respondent) v King's College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust (Appellant) Legal issue

Judgment details

Judgment date

16 April 2025

Neutral citation

[2025] UKSC 15

Judgment links

PDF Judgment (PDF)

PDF | 456.12 KB

16 April 2025 PDF Press summary (PDF)

PDF | 221.56 KB

16 April 2025 Judgment (HTML version) HTML

Press summary (HTML version) HTML

Judgment on The National Archives (HTML version) HTML

Press summary on The National Archives (HTML Version) HTML

Judgment on BAILII (HTML version) HTML

Judgment summary

16 April 2025

Watch the archived video.

Appeal

Justices

Lord Reed

Lord Hodge

Lord Briggs

Lord Sales

Lord Stephens

Hearing dates

Full hearing

Start date

15 April 2024

End date

16 April 2024

Watch hearings

15 April 2024 - Morning session

Watch the archived video.

15 April 2024 - Afternoon session

Watch the archived video.

16 April 2024 - Morning session

Watch the archived video.

16 April 2024 - Afternoon session

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Change log

Last updated 16 April 2024

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