26.26MAK and RK v United Kingdom Application nos 45901/05 and 40146/06, (2010) 13 CCLR 241
Disproportionate actions by a hospital doctor, resulting in his erroneously concluding that parents had abused their daughter, were incompatible with Article 8 ECHR
Facts: a hospital doctor negligently concluded that the daughter had been abused, resulting in the parents’ access to their doctor being blocked, then impeded, for about a week. The English Court of Appeal struck out the parents’ action in negligence (JD v East Berkshire Community Health NHS Trust [2005] 2 AC 373, (2005) 8 CCLR 185).
Judgment: the European Court of Human Rights held that whilst mistaken judgments or assessments by professionals do not in themselves render protection measures incompatible with Article 8 ECHR, in this case, the doctor’s actions had been disproportionate: there had been a breach of Article 8 ECHR and, because the Human Rights Act 1998 had not been in force at the relevant time, of Article 13 ECHR.