Joanna Rose & E (a child) v the Secretary of State for Health & the Human Fertilisation & Embryology Authority - 22nd-23rd May 2002

A landmark case on the right of children conceived by donor insemination to key non-identifying information about their donor parent will be taken before the High Court this Wednesday.

The case, a judicial review of the Department of Health's and the Human Fertilisation & Embryology Authority's decision not to secure significant information for donor children conceived after 1991 - or any information for those conceived before - will be heard at the High Court, starting on 22nd May. It is listed to last one-and-a-half days. We expect judgment to be reserved.

The case (the aims of which have been occasionally misrepresented...) seeks:

- to extend the HFE Act requirement for non-identifying donor information to be kept and to be available to donor offspring - so more information is kept than currently, and so information on pre-1991 donors is also protected and collected where it still exists
- the establishment of a voluntary contact register for donors and donor offspring However, following a DOH application, a High Court judge has ruled that only some of the issues will be considered by the Court at this hearing.

The remainder will not be considered until after the publication of the current Government consultation on these issues - expected in February 2003.

The case is being argued using Article 8 of the Human Rights Act (right to respect for private and family life - incorporating the right to personal identity) and Article 14, the anti-discrimination provision. It seeks to defend the rights of individuals to information necessary for an understanding of their personal identity.

This hearing will consider only whether Article 8 is engaged and two other points of legal argument.

Joanna Rose said:
"This is an issue that affects tens of thousands of people in the UK - and has done for many years now. I'm deeply disappointed that the Government has postponed several of the issues in our case and I look forward to them being considered fully in due course. In the meantime, I welcome this opportunity to begin establishing our case in the light of internatinal human rights standards". For obvious reasons, Joanna Rose will not be commenting further in advance of the case. The other client's identity is protected by law.

Joanne Sawyer, the Liberty lawyer who has taken this case, said:
"We hope this case will open up the possibility of allowing donor-conceived adults and children to have information about their genetic makeup and background. The law has to strike a balance between their rights and donors' right to privacy. This case is not about identifying donors without their consent".