Criteria for determining death

Re M (Declaration of Death of Child) [2020] EWCA Civ 164

The Court of Appeal has ruled that there was no prospect of a successful appeal against the decision of a Family Court judge to grant an NHS Trust a declaration that it was lawful to withdraw treatment from baby M who had been on mechanical ventilation since he had been born. The court confirmed that in UK law, death should be diagnosed by the absence of brainstem function, and once brainstem death had been diagnosed, a best interests analysis was neither necessary nor appropriate. However, the declaration was amended to reflect best practice which had been established by Re A (A Child) (Medical Treatment: Removal of Artificial Ventilation) [2015] EWHC 443 (Fam); [2016] 1 FLR 241, stating the time and date of the child’s death.