Consent and the mentally handicapped

Abstract

Does the court have power to consent to an operation on a mentally handicapped adult who cannot give valid consent? That question was left hanging in the air when the House of Lords delivered judgment in the “Jeanette” sterilisation case last April.1 Sunderland Borough Council made Jeanette a ward of court before her 18th birthday so the court could give its consent under the wardship jurisdiction, which applies only to minors. Once she reached 18, it was thought, no one, not even the court, would have power to consent. But while the case was progressing through the courts some commentators cast doubt on this interpretation of the law. They suggested that the court retained some residual jurisdiction after 18 to take decisions on behalf of those who were mentally incapable of deciding for themselves, under the ancient common law principle of the state as parens patriae. © 1987, British Medical Journal Publishing Group. All rights reserved.