The evolution of informed consent

Informed consent and the changes in what is expected over the 21st century provide an instructive case study of the mutual influence on one another of medical law and medical ethics. Over the years we have moved from a doctor-centred standard to a patient-centred standard and from a one-size-fits-all patient-centred standard to a more individual requirement that engages with the needs of a particular patient It is unreasonable to expect those changes to be reflected in anything less than an extended conversation in which the health care professional gives out some version of what a reasonable patient would expect to hear from an informed health care professional and then responds to the patient's questions as informatively and helpfully as he or she can. It is therefore convenient to refer to spontaneous and responsive disclosure as a very concrete implementation of the health care professional-patient partnership that is contemporary health care and at the heart of health care ethics.     

The future of informed consent in British common law

Within the common law world, the use of the term informed consent implies the American doctrine. Informed consent as a doctrine is not part of the law in the United Kingdom. However, it is possible to predict a way forward in disclosure cases yet to be heard in the courts of the United Kingdom. These predictions are based on current developments in the common law in the United Kingdom as well as those in Canada and Australia, on the European Convention on Human Rights and Biomedicine and on trends within the medical profession itself in the light of the Bolam test.     

The evolution of judge-made law

The Law must be applied in all cases which come within the letter or the spirit of any of its provisionsWhere no provision is applicable, the judge shall decide according to the existing Customary Law and, in default thereof, according to the rules which he would lay down if he had himself to act as legislator.Herein he must be guided by approved legal science and case-law¹     

The impact of a verbal warning on police consent search practices

This article explores the impact of requiring a verbal warning prior to a police request for consent to search a suspect's automobile. The United States Supreme Court expressed concern that requiring a verbal warning prior to a consent request would make consent searches impossible for the police. Twenty-seven months of motor vehicle stop data (N = 800) was analyzed during periods where a verbal warning was and was not required prior to a consent request. The findings did not support the conclusion that a verbal warning would cause a substantial decrease in consent searches. A slight increase in the volume of consent requests was observed after the police were required to administer the warning.     

“人肉搜索案”的社会诱因和法律困境

随着社会的进步和科技的发展,社会形态也必然发生变化,整个中国社会进入了以网络运用为代表的信息时代,这也导致了网络搜索成为一个需要面对的问题.其中,人肉搜索就是一个不可回避的社会问题.由于社会变迁,共同体规则衍变,旧有规则不能完全调适新问题,一系列现实问题不仅给法律带来了困境,也引发了人们对法律制度的思考.     

The evolution of commitment law in the nineteenth century

The generally accepted interpretation of the evolution of commitment law in the nineteenth century is challenged by means of an historical investigation of the law's development in a single state—Pennsylvania. Rather than an abrupt switch from relaxed commitment procedures to a system of stringent safeguards, which most historical accounts of the period describe, examination reveals that Pennsylvania law underwent a slow accretion of procedural protections, with the essential discretionary role of families, friends, and physicians left undisturbed. The implications for current policy of this challenge to the traditional account are discussed.     

Automatism: comparison of common law and civil law approaches--a search for the optimal

This article reviews common and civil law approaches to automatism with discussion of legal definitions and the conditions in which automatism occurs. The common law approach to sane (exogenous) and insane (endogenous) automatism is examined. Despite a change in the law, which obviates mandatory incarceration for all persons found not guilty on the basis of insane automatism, the stigma of insanity remains. A number of Continental jurisdictions, though, have adopted an approach divorced from judgmental labels, whereby acts, which result from automatism, are classified under the rubric of unconsciousness. The article draws upon this approach, analyses alternatives to insane automatism and proposes instead an analysis by reference to "cognitive dysfunction", thereby removing all reference to the concept of insanity.