A Future Orientated View of Autonomy

This chapter considers legal qualifications to the view expressed by Lord Scarman in Gillick v West Norfolk and Wisbech Health Authority that ‘a minor’s capacity to make his or her own decision depends upon the minor having sufficient understanding and intelligence to make the decision’. There has been judicial support for allowing children who reach this threshold to make treatment decisions, subject to the powers of the court to make decisions in the best interests of children until the age of 18. This article argues that the exceptions are more pervasive. Where current autonomy conflicts with a future orientated view of autonomy, the value of the child’s view can be qualified by legal, clinical and policy mechanisms