Case in focus: Article 2 of the European Convention on Human Rights. Debra Britton v Cardiff & NHS Trust

摘要

The right to life, as enshrined innArticle 2 of the European Conventionnon Human Rights (ECHR) might benthought to have limited application tona death which takes place in hospital.nAfter all, the ECHR was a treatynsigned in 1950 which sought to extinguishnforever the horrors of WorldnWar II and, in particular, thenHolocaust. The ECHR was conceivednas a means by which the Statenmay be held accountable to the individualnin a way that it was hopednwould help guard against the rise ofntotalitarian states.nHowever, it has long been recognizednthat the ambit of the ECHRnextends beyond the situations thatnthose responsible for conceiving itnmay have had in the forefront of theirnminds in 1950. Prior to and since thencoming into force in this country ofnthe Human Rights Act 1998 (HRA),nwhich gave effect in the UK to thenrights set out in the ECHR, commentatorsnhave speculated about thenextent to which arguments basednupon alleged breaches of Article 2nmight arise in cases involving the provisionnof healthcare by the NHS.