Consent and Children

The Court of Appeal clarifies the scope of the Gillick test

It is widely recognised that consent is specific to the particular circumstances under consideration, and that according to the complexity of what is being consented to, the capacity required can differ. The well-known Gillick test for competence applies only to consent to medical treatment, and the general law relating to consent is more complex than many lay people and some clinicians realise, particularly when there are difficult issues concerning children. Since the Mental Capacity Act 2005 only applies to people aged 16 and over, the Court of Appeal has at last thrown some authoritative light on some of these matters in a recent case concerning a 14-year-old child. Judgment was handed down on the 29 July 2025.