The European Court of Human Rights has denied the family of Archie Battersbee the chance to have their case regarding the withdrawal of Archie’s life support.
This comes after the Supreme Court rejected their application for a hearing on Tuesday.
The boy’s life support was initially due to be withdrawn on Monday. Following a Court of Appeal hearing, Archie Battersbee’s life support withdrawal was then set for 12pm BST on Tuesday (2nd August) after the Court rejected a last-minute appeal following intervention from the United Nations (UN).
The UN Committee on the rights of Persons With Disabilities (CRPD) had requested for its case to be heard and the termination of treatment for Archie Battersbee to be extended.
President of the family division Sir Andrew McFarlane, Lady Justice King and Lord Justice Moylan delayed the withdrawal of the hearing until Tuesday in order to allow for any further appeal from Archie’s family.
The panel found the original judgment did not fall into error and that it had exercised its powers correctly. At the hearing on Monday, McFarlane said: “In short, his system, his organs and, ultimately, his heart are in the process of closing down.”
The CRPD had asked for the UK Government to allow treatment to continue for Archie Battersbee until its evidence is heard. This followed previous correspondence from the CRPD which asked to “refrain from withdrawing life-preserving medical treatment, including mechanical ventilation and artificial nutrition and hydration, from the alleged victim while the case is under consideration by the committee”.
Archie’s parents previously lost an appeal over the life support in the High Court, with the appeal judges finding that ending the life support was in the child’s best interests.
