Resources

ARB v IVF Hammersmith v R  [2018] EWCA Civ 2803 In the recent English case of ARB v IVF Hammersmith v R, an ex-partner forged the appellant’s signature. Proceeding on the basis of that signature, the respondent clinic thawed and implanted into the ex-partner an embryo containing the appellant’s gametes. The respondent breached the contract with the appellant in that it failed to obtain the appellant’s written consent.  In the Court of Appeal, the appellant lost ...

An article co-authored by CMEL’s Deputy Director Ms Daisy Cheung and some other participants of CMEL’s 2017 mental health conference was recently published in the International Journal of Law and Psychiatry. Building on the work of the conference, the article explores the various pathways for law reform in the area of compulsory mental health treatment in Hong Kong. Journal article (abstract & full article): Articulating future directions of law reform for compulsory mental h ...

Date: 13 Oct, 2019 Newspaper: South China Morning Post Hyperlink: https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/health-environment/article/3032659/choices-terminally-ill-define-clearly-who

FH and MH v WB and others [2019] HKCFI 1748 Facts FH and MH (“the Applicants”) were a married couple. They were Hong Kong permanent residents. In 2015, they entered into a gestational carrier agreement (“the GC Agreement”) with WB and her husband HB. Pursuant to the GC Agreement, WB was to be the surrogate mother, and two embryos were placed inside WB’s uterus. The gametes of the Applicants were used to bring about the creation of the embryos. In 2016, WB ga ...

The Causing or Allowing the Death of a Child or Vulnerable Adult Sub-committee of the Hong Kong Law Reform Commission issued a consultation paper on 16 May 2019 making a preliminary proposal recommending that the Government introduce an offence of “failure to protect a child or vulnerable person where the child's or vulnerable person’s death or serious harm results from an unlawful act or neglect”. The Sub-committee recommends defining a “vulnerable person” as & ...

In light of recent events that have raised issues about doctor-patient confidentiality, CMEL HKU has put together a short series discussing some related questions.