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

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

Was the Court of Appeal right, in balancing the respective article 8 and article 10 rights, to discharge the relevant Reporting Restriction Orders ("RROs")?

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 RROs were made in both cases. RROs 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 RRO or give away information that would enable them to be identified (the "Abbasi RRO"). In Isaiah's case, the range of medical staff protected is wider (the "Haastrup RRO").The parents appealed against the orders made by the President of the Family Division, which allowed the continuation of the RROs, 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 RROs 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 RROs, 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

Linked cases

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

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