What is it about?
F (Mother) v F (Father) concerned a dispute between parents as to whether or not a 15 and 11 year old should receive the MMR inoculation. Mrs Justice Theis took into consideration the wishes of both parents and the two ‘intelligent, articulate and thoughtful’ minors and held that inoculation was in their best interests.
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Why is it important?
The troubled history of the MMR vaccine and its importance to public health provided the backdrop. Whilst the court’s efforts to establish the views of the minors are to be commended, the decision is problematic in its assessment of the minors’ individual medical interests and capacities, and in the significance placed on their views when determining whether inoculation would be in their best interests.
Perspectives
This is one of a number of cases explored in the Children's Rights Judgments project. (see http://gtr.rcuk.ac.uk/projects?ref=AH/M009033/1) It is further analysed in Cave, E. and Doughty, Julie (2017). F v F [2013] IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUSTICE FAMILY DIVISION. In Rewriting Children's Rights Judgments: From Academic Vision to New Practice. Stalford, Helen, Hollingsworth, Kathryn & Gilmore, Stephen. Hart. Forthcoming.
Professor Emma Cave
Durham University
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: Adolescent Refusal of MMR Inoculation:F (Mother)vF (Father), Modern Law Review, July 2014, Wiley,
DOI: 10.1111/1468-2230.12082.
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