Martin Westgate KC - Healthcare and Serious Medical Treatment

Year of Silk: 2010; Year of Call: 1985 

Chambers and Partners 2022, Band 1 (Admin and Public Law, Community Care), Band 2 (Civil Liberties); Legal 500 2023, Tier 2 (Court of Protection and Community Care), Tier 3 (Admin and Public Law)

Martin is a public law practitioner whose practice includes Court of Protection and inherent jurisdiction work. Relevant reported cases include B (A Child) Re [2010] 1 FLR 946 – withdrawal of treatment where he acted for one of the parents; G v E [2011] PTSR 1574 (CA) – whether article 5 imposes threshold conditions for a deprivation of liberty; WB v WDC [2019] QB 625 – Homelessness applications on behalf of persons lacking capacity; Derby CC v BA [2021] EWHC 2931 (Fam) – inherent jurisdiction to authorize deprivations of liberty in unregistered placements. Martin recently appeared for the applicant Trust in the much publicised case of Barts Health NHS Trust v Dance [2022] EWCA Civ 935 in an appeal against a declaration of a child’s death where it had not been possible to conduct a brainstem test in accordance with the Academy of Medical Royal Colleges' Code of Practice for the Diagnosis and Confirmation of Death 2008. The Court of Appeal held that the appropriate course was to proceed to determine best interests and remitted the case for a determination to take place. Martin also represented the Trust at the remitted hearing ([2022] EWFC 80) before Hayden J who decided that it was not in the child’s best interests to continue to be mechanically ventilated.

Read Martin's full profile here.