Archie Battersbee: Parents turn to ECHR as life support due to be withdrawn on Wednesday
Archie Battersbee’s parents have confirmed they have submitted an application to the European Court of Human Rights in a bid to postpone the withdrawal of his life support on Wednesday.
The 12-year-old has been in a coma since he was found unconscious by his mother in April.
He is currently being kept alive by a combination of ventilation and drug treatments at the Royal London Hospital in Whitechapel, East London.
A spokesman for the charity which is supporting the family confirmed that the application was submitted shortly before the 9am deadline they had to meet to prevent Archie's treatment being stopped at 11am.
His mother Hollie Dance said: "We are very relieved, we are having to battle every decision with the hospital.
"We now hope and pray that the ECHR will look favourably on the application. We will not give up on Archie until the end."
The trust running the hospital where Archie is being treated said it would not withdraw life support until the court appeal had concluded.
Alistair Chesser, chief medical officer for Barts Health NHS Trust, said: "Our deepest sympathies remain with Archie's family and we aim to provide the best possible support to everyone at this difficult time.
As directed by the courts, we will work with the family to prepare for the withdrawal of treatment, but we will make no changes to Archie's care until the outstanding legal issues are resolved."
His parents, Ms Dance and Paul Battersbee, were granted a Court of Appeal hearing on Monday after the government asked judges to urgently consider a request from a UN committee to keep treating Archie while it reviews his case.
However, three judges refused to postpone the withdrawal of life-sustaining treatment beyond midday on Tuesday.
They also refused to grant permission to appeal against their ruling at the Supreme Court.
Ms Dance and Mr Battersbee filed an application directly with the Supreme Court, asking for his treatment to continue so the UN Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD) could have time to consider their complaint, made last week.
But, refusing permission to appeal, a panel of three justices concluded the Court of Appeal “made the correct decision”.
On Tuesday evening, Ms Dance said Barts Health NHS Trust would begin to withdraw Archie’s life support on Wednesday at 11am unless the family has submitted an application to the European Court of Human Rights by 9am.
Ms Dance told the PA news agency: “Our solicitors will be filing to the European Court of Human Rights. They’ve been given a strict timeline of 9am. Again, no time whatsoever.
“Every single court case we’ve had we’ve had no time at all, one or two days to prepare and get the whole case together.”
She said that their legal team described the attitude of the hospital as “brutal” and had claimed he had been refused a hospice.
Supreme Court judges said they have “great sympathy” Archie’s parents, but added that there is “no prospect of any meaningful recovery”.
Alistair Chesser, chief medical officer for Barts Health NHS Trust, said: “Our deepest sympathies remain with Archie’s family.
“As directed by the courts, we will now work with the family to prepare for the withdrawal of treatment.
“We aim to provide the best possible support to everyone at this difficult time.”
Archie was found unconscious at his home by his mother on April 7 and has not regained consciousness since. She believes he was taking part in an online challenge.
Archie Battersbee timeline
Archie Battersbee - The story of a four-month court battle
Archie Battersbee - The story of a four-month court battle
7 April - Hollie Dance finds Archie unconscious in their home in Southend, Essex, with a ligature over his head. She believes he was taking part in an online challenge.
8 April - Archie is moved to the Royal London Hospital in Whitechapel, east London.
26 April - Barts Health Trust, which runs the Royal London Hospital, starts High Court proceedings to run brain stem tests. Hollie Dance urges judge Mrs Justice Arbuthnot to not approve the brain stem tests to "give him [Archie] time to fight back".
13 May - Mrs Justice Arbuthnot rules brain stem tests should be carried out
16 May -Two specialists at Royal London Hospital try to conduct brain stem tests but are unable to do so as Archie fails to respond to peripheral nerve stimulation test.
25 May - A hearing is held to decide if further MRI scans should be conducted. Ms Dance and Paul Battersbee, Archie's father, do not consent as they fear moving Archie will cause him harm.
27 May - Court approves that further MRI scans should be conducted.
31 May - MRI scans conducted.
6-8 June - Court hearing held to decide if Archie's life support treatment should continue. Specialists say it is highly likely that Archie is "brain stem dead", and that tests conducted showed no discernible brain activity, revealing "significant areas of tissue necrosis". A doctor for the family tells the court he knows of cases where people diagnosed as being dead by "neurological criteria" have been proven to be alive.
13 June 2022 - Mrs Justice Arbuthnot rules that Archie is dead based on MRI scan results. "I find that Archie died at noon on Monday 31 May 2022, which was shortly after the MRI scans taken that day," she rules. Archie's family immediately indicate they will apply for permission to appeal the decision.
20 June - The family mount an appeal to the same judge, arguing that evidence had not shown “beyond reasonable doubt” that the youngster was dead. Mrs Justice Arbuthnot agrees that the family have a "compelling" case and the matter is sent to the Court of Appeal.
29 June - Three Court of Appeal judges uphold the family's appeal, and order a fresh hearing to take place at the High Court in front of a different judge.
11 July - The new hearing begins in the High Court before Mr Justice Hayden. Doctors treating Archie at Royal London Hospital argue that continuing the treatment will only "delay the inevitable".
15 July - Mr Justice Hayden concludes that doctors can lawfully stop providing life-support treatment, calling the medical evidence "compelling and unanimous". He adds: "There are unfortunately no treatments possible to reverse the damage that has been caused to Archie's brain." Once again, Archie's family say they will appeal the decision.
25 July - Three Court of Appeal judges hear the appeal, but back Mr Justice Hayden's ruling that treatment can end as it is in Archie's best interests. A stay is put in place for Archie's treatment to continue until 2pm on 27 July.
27 July - As the stay expires, Archie's family are given a further 24 hours to appeal to European Court of Human Rights. However, they say that court has a "track record" of rejecting cases such as Archie's and instead want to go to the United Nations. They apply to the Supreme Court to be allowed to appeal to the UN.
28 July - Supreme Court judges refuse to intervene, and support the Court of Appeal ruling that Royal London Hospital can withdraw life support treatment lawfully.
29 July - Archie's family make an application to the UN, under a protocol which allows individuals and families to make complaints about violation of disabled people's rights).
30 July - The UN issues the UK government's legal department with a request so that it has time to consider Archie's case.
31 July - The UK government asks the High Court to delay the withdrawal of treatment so that the UN has time to consider the case.
1 August - A last-minute hearing organised at the request of the health secretary. Lawyers representing Archie's parents say unless the withdrawal of life support treatment is postponed, the court would be "complicit" in "flagrant breach of international law". But Court of Appeal judges refuses to postpone the withdrawal of life-support, extending it only until midday on Tuesday, 2 August. The most senior family judge in the country says the UN convention is an "unconventional international treaty and is not part of UK law", and that it continues to be in Archie's best interests to stop treatment.
2 August - Archie’s parents are refused permission to appeal against the latest ruling at the Supreme Court. Ms Dance says Barts Health NHS Trust will begin to withdraw Archie’s life support on August 3 at 11am unless the family have submitted an application to the European Court of Human Rights by 9am that day. The trust will not begin removing life-support until all legal issues have been resolved.
3 August - The European Court of Human Rights refuses the last-ditch application. Archie’s family say they intend to ask the High Court to allow the schoolboy to be moved to a hospice.
4 August - Nearly four months after Archie suffered traumatic head injuries, his parents formally lodge High Court proceedings over the move to hospice care – something the hospital opposes. Archie’s care continues. A hearing takes place at the Royal Courts of Justice in London, lasting late into the evening.
5 August - Mrs Justice Theis rules it is not in Archie’s best interests to be moved to a hospice. The High Court judge refuses the family permission to appeal against her ruling, granting a stay on the withdrawal of Archie’s treatment until 2pm on Friday to allow them to go directly to the Court of Appeal.
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