The Archie Battersbee life support case will be reconsidered after the boy's family won a Court of Appeal fight.
The 12-year-old boy's parents asked for a review of the case after a High Court judge ruled that the younger was officially dead. Mrs Justice Arbuthnot recently said that doctors could lawfully end treatment for Archie after examining evidence at a trial in the Family Division of the High Court in London.
However, three appeal judges on Wednesday ruled that evidence relating to what was in Archie's best interest should be reconsidered by a different High Court Judge. Lawyers representing the parents Hollie Dance and Paul Battersbee, of Southend, Essex, argued that Mrs Justice Arbuthnot had made errors in the trial.
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Edward Devereux, QC, argued that the case should be readmitted to the High Court so a judge could carry out a fuller analysis of whether the ruling was in Archie's best interests. Appeal judges Sir Geoffrey Vos, the Master of the Rolls; Sir Andrew McFarlane, president of the Family Division of the High Court and Lady Justice King all agreed to the parent's appeal and said the case will be reheard next month.
Doctors treating Archie at the Royal London Hospital told Mrs Justice Arbuthnot that they believed Archie was "brain-stem dead" and that treatment should end with Archie being disconnected from a ventilator. However, Archie's parents argued that his heart is still beating and want his treatment to continue.
Lawyers representing the Royal London Hospital's governing trust, Barts Health NHS Trust, had asked Mrs Justice Arbuthnot to decode what exact courses of action were in Archie's best interest. She had concluded that Archie was dead and his treatment should end.
But Mr Devereux said evidence had not shown "beyond reasonable doubt" that Archie was dead. He said a decision had been made on a balance of probabilities and the seriousness of the decision meant Archie's death must be made on a "beyond reasonable doubt" basis.
Archie suffered brain damage following an incident at home in early April. He was found unconscious by his mum with a lgature over his head on April 7 and believes he might have taken part in an online challenge - he has not regained consciousness since.
The three appeal judges said the case would be reconsidered at a hearing in the Family Division of the High Court on July 11. No criticism was made of Mrs Justice Arbuthnot and the judges stated they would give reasons for their decision at a later date.
Ms Dance said after the appeal hearing: "We're delighted. We wanted another hearing and we've go everything we wanted." Mr Battersbee added: "Delighted. It couldn't really have gone any better today."
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