Consultation Paper on Bioethics - Law Reform Commission

when making an advance care directive. In the case of advance care directives
refusing life-sustaining medical treatment, the Commission provisionally
recommends that medical advice must be obtained for the advance care
directive to be valid. [Paragraph 3.15]
6.11 The Commission provisionally recommends that there is a rebuttable
presumption of capacity in favour of the maker of an advance care directive.
[Paragraph 3.34]
6.12 The Commission provisionally recommends that the capacity to
refuse healthcare decisions should be assessed on the functional test of
capacity. The Commission also provisionally recommends that the statutory
codes of practice be formulated to guide healthcare professionals when
assessing the capacity of an individual. [Paragraph 3.35]
6.13 The Commission invites submissions on the age a person must be
before they can make a valid advance care directive. [Paragraph 3.52]
6.14 The Commission provisionally recommends that both oral and written
advance care directives are valid. [Paragraph 4.13]
6.15 In the case of life-sustaining treatment, the Commission provisionally
recommends that only written advance care directives are valid. The
Commission invites submissions on the definition of life-sustaining medical
treatment and on whether artificial nutrition and hydration is life-sustaining
medical treatment. [Paragraph 4.23]
6.16 The Commission provisionally recommends that only a written
advance care directive which refuses life-sustaining medical treatment must be
witnessed by at least one person. [Paragraph 4.33]
6.17 The Commission provisionally recommends that it is not necessary
for an advance care directive to be in a prescribed form. [Paragraph 4.37]
6.18 The Commission provisionally recommends that an advance care
directive will not be valid if
The author of the advance care directive did not have
capacity at the time of its creation
The creation of the advance care directive was not a
voluntary act of the author
If the author changed their mind and communicated this
change of mind
If a written advance care directive refusing lifesustaining
medical treatment was not witnessed and if
the person did not consult with a medical professional
[Paragraph 4.61]
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