The Court of Appeal has considered the question of whether a person sedated for clinical treatment in an intensive care unit is deprived of liberty for the purposes of Article 5 of the European Convention on Human Rights. Jonathan Hough QC acted for the Coroner, who had decided that a jury inquest was not required on the basis that a disabled person who had died in an intensive care unit was not deprived of liberty or “in state detention” for the purposes of a statutory test. The Coroner’s decision was upheld by Court of Appeal (affirming a decision of the Divisional Court). Since extensive administrative procedures have to be followed if a person is deprived of liberty, the case is of great practical importance to hospitals and to clinicians working in intensive care units.
