“What’s In a Name?” Revisited

Jones v Ministry of Defence [2020] EWHC 1603 (QB)  This article originally appeared in Issue 6 (September 2020). Those who practise in the field of serious personal injury and clinical negligence will be very familiar with the principles that govern the grant of anonymity orders. The leading authority is JXMX…

Transgender Fathers and Birth Certificates

R (McConnell and YY) v Registrar General [2020] EWCA Civ 559  This article was originally published in Issue 5 (May 2020). The Court of Appeal has revisited the tension between the wish of a transgender person to have their legal gender recognised on their child’s birth certificate and the right of…

Order Seeking Possession of a Hospital Bed During the Covid-19 Pandemic

University College London Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust v MB (Rev 1) [2020] EWHC 882 (QB)  The Claimant, the NHS Trust, sought possession from the Defendant, a patient called MB, of a bedroom on a ward of the hospital. The ward was intended for those requiring acute neuropsychiatry care for up…

Discrimination and the NHS Charging Regime

Shu & Anor, R (ota) v The Secretary of State for Health And Social Care & Anor [2019] EWHC 3569 (Admin)  This article originally appeared in Issue 4 (March 2020). SHU, a national of Ghana, entered the UK in 2004 without entry clearance. She gave birth to E in 2007.…

Gender Reassignment for Prisoners

R (ota KK) Tavistock & Portman NHS Foundation Trust [2019] EWHC 3565 (Admin)  This article originally appeared in Issue 4 (March 2020). This judicial review sought to challenge the decision by an NHS Trust to refuse to recommend a transgender prisoner for NHS-funded gender reassignment surgery by reference to an…

What is a ‘Mother’ in Law?

TT, R (on the application of) v The Registrar General for England and Wales [2019] EWHC 2384 (Fam)  This article originally appeared in Issue 3 (November 2019). A person who undergoes the physical and biological process of carrying a pregnancy and giving birth, irrespective of gender? This was the ruling…

Anonymity orders

Justyna Zeromska-Smith v United Lincolnshire Hospitals NHS Trust [2019] EWHC 552 (QB) This article originally appeared in Issue 1 (May 2019). Spencer J refused an application for an anonymity order by the Claimant, who had suffered a stillbirth and psychiatric injury and was bringing a clinical negligence claim against the…