After five years of legal proceedings, the Grand Chamber of the European Court of Human Rights has, today (10th April 2007) ruled against Natallie Evans.
The Court held unanimously that there had been no violation of Article 2 (right to life) of the European Convention on Human Rights; by thirteen votes to four that there had been no violation of Article 8 (right to respect for private and family life) of the Convention; and by thirteen votes to four, that there had been no violation of Article 14 (prohibition of discrimination) taken in conjunction with Article 8.
Solicitor James Grigg, who has represented Howard Johnston throughout the case, answered questions at a press conference in Cheltenham earlier today:
Q: Has Miss Evans reached the end of the road in terms of her legal battle?
“Yes – she has now exhausted all of her possible legal options, both in this country and in Europe.”
Q: Is there any chance that Howard Johnston will change his mind and give permission for Natallie to use the embryos?
“This is plainly a question that Mr Johnston will be expecting in the light of today’s ruling and, indeed, has been asked many times throughout the case.
“He remains resolute in his belief that he and Miss Evans should both consent to the storage and use of the embryos created through the treatment they underwent together.
“Given that their relationship has ended, he would not now elect to start a family with her. He therefore remains clear that he would not now, or at any point in the future, consent to the use and continued storage of the embryos.”
Q: What is Howard Johnston’s reaction to the judgment?
“Mr Johnston is relieved that the case has now reached a final conclusion. He believes this is the only sensible and appropriate outcome in the circumstances.
“He accepts that some people might regard him as heartless for adopting the position he has throughout the case. However, he firmly believes that there must always be mutual consent throughout this treatment or any other IVF process.
“The importance of joint consent was made clear to both parties when they began treatment. If the requirement for joint consent had been scrapped, as Miss Evans wanted, it would mean Mr Johnston would have been forced into parenthood – with the inevitable and consequential moral, legal and financial responsibilities.”
Q: What would you say to Miss Evans?
“Miss Evans’ situation is both sad and unfortunate. However, the fact remains that any two parties who embark on IVF, or any other similar treatment, must retain their right to withdraw consent up until the implantation of any embryos.
“In this case, the circumstances that existed when this couple set out on treatment are now dramatically different. They are no longer involved in a relationship and therefore would not choose to start a family together.
“The law in this area preserves the two important principles of bilateral consent and self-determination. Had Miss Evans’ application succeeded, it would have led to a highly unsatisfactory position which would, no doubt, have had dramatic consequences for any couples who have already embarked on IVF treatment. The basis on which they originally agreed to begin treatment together would have been altered retrospectively.
“Mr Johnston hopes that her wish to start a family can be satisfied in some other way, perhaps using donor eggs.”
It is nearly seven years since the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) came into force. However, it is as important as ever that data protection compliance doesn’t fall off the…
When an individual provides services to a business, it is important for all concerned to understand the nature of that relationship. The individual could be one of three things: an…
For almost three decades, Willans has advised a nationally renowned specialist in trade supply and home and commercial improvements. Here, in the first of a series of articles, we reflect…
By clicking Accept you are agreeing to the use of all cookies which will allow us to provide you with the most relevant experience when visiting or re-visiting this website. This means that your personal preferences will be remembered when you use this website. You can change your consent or choose specific settings by clicking "Cookie Settings". By clicking "Reject All" we will not use any non-essential cookies. Essential cookies will still be used for the website to function properly. Please see our cookie policy and privacy notice for more information about how we process your personal data.
Our website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through our website. Out of these cookies, the cookies that are categorised as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyse and understand how you use our website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies but it may affect your browsing experience on our website. You can find our cookie policy here.
Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for our website to function and enable core functionality such as security and accessibility. These cookies do not store any personal information. You can block these cookies by changing your browser settings, but this may affect how the website functions.
Functional cookies help to perform certain functionalities like sharing the content of the website on social media platforms, collect feedbacks, and other third-party features.
Cookie
Duration
Description
__cf_bm
30 minutes
This cookie, set by Cloudflare, is used to support Cloudflare Bot Management.
mgref
1 year
This cookie is set by Eventbrite to deliver content tailored to the end user's interests and improve content creation. It is also used for event-booking purposes.
yt-player-headers-readable
never
The yt-player-headers-readable cookie is used by YouTube to store user preferences related to video playback and interface, enhancing the user's viewing experience.
yt-remote-cast-installed
session
The yt-remote-cast-installed cookie is used to store the user's video player preferences using embedded YouTube video.
yt-remote-connected-devices
never
YouTube sets this cookie to store the user's video preferences using embedded YouTube videos.
yt-remote-device-id
never
YouTube sets this cookie to store the user's video preferences using embedded YouTube videos.
yt-remote-fast-check-period
session
The yt-remote-fast-check-period cookie is used by YouTube to store the user's video player preferences for embedded YouTube videos.
yt-remote-session-app
session
The yt-remote-session-app cookie is used by YouTube to store user preferences and information about the interface of the embedded YouTube video player.
yt-remote-session-name
session
The yt-remote-session-name cookie is used by YouTube to store the user's video player preferences using embedded YouTube video.
ytidb::LAST_RESULT_ENTRY_KEY
never
The cookie ytidb::LAST_RESULT_ENTRY_KEY is used by YouTube to store the last search result entry that was clicked by the user. This information is used to improve the user experience by providing more relevant search results in the future.
Performance cookies are used to understand and analyze the key performance indexes of the website which helps in delivering a better user experience for the visitors.
Analytical cookies are used to understand how visitors interact with the website. These cookies help provide information on metrics the number of visitors, bounce rate, traffic source, etc.
Cookie
Duration
Description
_ga
2 years
The _ga cookie, installed by Google Analytics, calculates visitor, session and campaign data and also keeps track of site usage for the site's analytics report. The cookie stores information anonymously and assigns a randomly generated number to recognize unique visitors.
_gat
1 minute
This cookie is installed by Google Universal Analytics to restrain request rate and thus limit the collection of data on high traffic sites.
_gid
1 day
Installed by Google Analytics, _gid cookie stores information on how visitors use a website, while also creating an analytics report of the website's performance. Some of the data that are collected include the number of visitors, their source, and the pages they visit anonymously.
_s
1 year
This cookie is associated with Shopify's analytics suite.
G
1 year
Cookie used to facilitate the translation into the preferred language of the visitor.
vuid
2 years
Vimeo installs this cookie to collect tracking information by setting a unique ID to embed videos to the website.
Advertisement cookies are used to provide visitors with relevant ads and marketing campaigns. These cookies track visitors across websites and collect information to provide customized ads.
Cookie
Duration
Description
VISITOR_INFO1_LIVE
6 months
YouTube sets this cookie to measure bandwidth, determining whether the user gets the new or old player interface.
VISITOR_PRIVACY_METADATA
6 months
YouTube sets this cookie to store the user's cookie consent state for the current domain.
YSC
session
Youtube sets this cookie to track the views of embedded videos on Youtube pages.