Table 1

Law and age of consent (and refusal) of treatment

Age	Ability to consent to all treatments	Ability to veto all treatments
Over 18 years	Yes	Yes
Between 16 and 18 years	Yes	No*
Under 16 years	Yes, if competent†	No*

↵* Unlikely to be able to veto treatment that will save life or prevent serious harm.
↵† See box 2 for definitions.