Consent issues for children: a law unto themselves?

Termination of a minor's pregnancy: critical issues for consent and the criminal law.

The recent Supreme Court decision of Queensland v B [2008] 2 Qd R 562 has significant implications for the law that governs consent and abortions. The judgment purports to extend the ratio of Secretary, Department of Health and Community Services (NT) v JWB and SMB (1992) 175 CLR 218 (Marion's Case) and impose a requirement of court approval for terminations of pregnancy for minors who are not ...

Rethinking legislative consent law?

Termination of pregnancy and children: consent and confidentiality issues.

While the Choice on Termination of Pregnancy Act1 (Choice Act) allows a female of any age to consent to a termination of pregnancy,2 there are other statutes, such as the Child Care Act3 and the Children’s Act,4 that provide for different ages of consent for medical and surgical procedures. Doctors are not always certain whether young girls are legally capable of giving proper informed consent ...

Informed Consent: Legal Issues

We mentioned previously that legal standards for appropriate informed consent disclosure of information often differ from moral standards. In this section we examine legal standards. Unfortunately or not, there are many different legal systems in the United States. Each state has its own set of laws, and in each judges are bound by different precedents. In the United States, as in countries lik...

The Law of Patient Consent

In 1992, the High Court of Australia handed down a decision on consent to medical treatment. The case had widespread media publicity, and caused consternation among many members of the medical profession. This article explains the law on consent to treatment by health practitioners and considers the relevance of the law for chiropractors and osteopaths.