Crown Court

DOI10.1177/002201838404800201
Published date01 May 1984
Date01 May 1984
Subject MatterArticle
CROWN
COURT
PRISONER'S CAPACITY TO CONSENT TO
DRUG
THERAPY
Freeman v.
Home
Office
(No.2)
Amedical officer
of
aprison is a prison officer within
the
meaning
of
section 7(1) of
the
Prison
Act
1952. He is described somewhat
unflatteringly by counsel in Freeman
v.Home
Office
(No.2)
[1983]
3 All
E.R.
589; [1984] 2W.L.R. 130 as
"part
medical
man
part
turnkey".
As such, he can
put
aprisoner on
report
for disobeying a
lawful
order;
he can say
whether
aprisoner is fit for work
or
for
cellular confinement; he can, by his reports, affect
not
only the
prisoner's categorisation
but
also his prospect for release on parole.
This beingso, can it be said
that
aprisonerisfree to
"consent"
to the
treatment
which the medical officer proposes? Must he
not
always
fear
adisadvantage if he
does
not
fall in with
the
medical officer's
wishes on
treatment?
Can
his consent
ever
be voluntary? In
Freeman's case, aprisoner serving a life sentence sued
the
Home
Office, alleging
that
he had
been
forcibly and without his consent
subjected to injections of drugs by prison officers acting
on
the
instructions of a prison pyschiatrist employed by
the
Home
Office.
It
was admitted
that
the
treatment
had
been
prescribed and
administered,
but
it was asserted
that
the
prisoner
had always
consented to
that
treatment.
The
prisonerclaimed
that
he had
never
given any signs of consenting;
and
he went
further
by adding that,
even if he
had
done
so, he could not, as a
matter
of
law, freely give
his consentto a psychiatrist employed by
the
Home
Office, who
had
such wide powers to affect his life
and
status in
the
prison.
It
is clear
that
prison medical officers have
the
same clinical
freedom as those practising outside prisons.
They
are
entitled to
prescribe when
(but
only when), in accordance with
their
clinical
judgment, it is necessary to do so for the restoration of health
or
the
relief
of
symptoms. Unlike those caring for patients
detained
in
psychiatric hospitals
under
the
Mental
Health
Act
1959, they have
no statutory authority to administer
treatment
against the wishes of
their patients. Aprisoner's consent is
therefore
always necessary.
115

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