King's College London Centre for Medical Law and Ethics Living Wills Project

Identity Statement

Reference code(s)	: GB 0100 KCLCA KFLE/LWP
Held at	: King's College London College Archives   Click here to find out how to view this collection at http://www.kcl.ac.uk/library/archivespec/ ›
Full title	: King's College London Centre for Medical Law and Ethics Living Wills Project
Date(s)	: 1985-1992
Level of description	: Series of sub-Fonds of King's College London Centre for Medical Law and Ethics Records
Extent	: 3 boxes or 0.03 cubic metres
Name of creator(s)	: King's College London Centre for Medical Law and Ethics
Detailed catalogue	: Click here to view repository detailed catalogue

Context

Administrative/Biographical history:

The Centre for Medical Law and Ethics, part of the School of Law, was opened in 1978 to undertake research, organise teaching and publish papers concerning issues in medicine involving law and ethics. It draws on the expertise of staff in numerous schools and departments including medicine and theology and offers undergraduate course units and an MA and Diploma programme. The Living Wills Working Party was set up between the Centre and the charity, Age Concern, in 1985, as an early exercise in methodological appraisal of the subject and comprised a forerunner to the Living Wills Project run by the Centre and the AIDS charity, the Terrence Higgins Trust, to measure and evaluate the demand for advanced legal directives and powers of attorney pertaining to medical treatment of terminally or chronically-ill patients.

Content

Scope and content/abstract:

Records of the Living Wills Working Group and Living Wills Project at The Centre of Medical Law and Ethics at King's College London, 1985-1992. The papers of the Living Wills Working Party, 1985-1989, including correspondence of the Working Party and opinions of other organisations on the development of the report, 1985-1989; unbound copy of the final Living Wills Working Party report, 1988. Papers of the Living Wills Project, 1990-1992, including agendas and minutes of meetings, 1991-1992; thesis by Charlotta Schlyter 'AIDS and Aid-in-Dying the Impact of AIDS on the Debate Over Euthanasia, Assisted Suicide and Cessation of Treatment', 1990; papers regarding the development of the questionnaires, 1991-1992; correspondence with AIDS agencies, medical professionals, and other regarding the development and distribution of questionnaires, 1991-1992; completed questionnaires and analysis of the data gathered during the Project,1991-1992.

Access & Use

Language/scripts of material:
English

System of arrangement:

The collection has been arranged into the categories above.

Conditions governing access:

Records relating to individuals are subject to the Data Protection Act, and are closed for 80 years from the last date in the file. They may be consulted by Centre for Medical Law and Ethics staff with permission from the Head of Department. Access may be granted to researchers in certain circumstances, and upon signature of a special undertaking, providing such research if for purely statistical purposes and published data is anonymised such as to prevent the identification of individuals.

Conditions governing reproduction:

Copies, subject to the condition of the original, may be supplied for research use only. Requests to publish original material should be submitted to the Director of Archive Services

Finding aids:

The catalogue is available on-line and in hard copy in the Archive reading room.

Archival Information

Archival history:

Immediate source of acquisition:

Transferred to the Archives from the Centre in 1996 and 1998.

Allied Materials

Related material:

King's College London Archives: Centre for Medical Law and Ethics postgraduate student files, 1985-1986 (Ref: KCLCA KFLE/FPPG); Financial records of the Centre, (Ref. KCLA 1998/KFLE); annual prospectuses for the Centre (Ref: KCLCA KFL/SYL 1-2); records of the Persistent Vegetative State (PVS) Project (Ref: KCLCA KFLE/PVS).

Publication note:

Description Notes

Archivist's note:
Entry compiled by Geoff Browell. Updated by Katie Mooney when the collection was catalogued.

Rules or conventions:
Compiled in compliance with General International Standard Archival Description, ISAD(G), second edition, 2000; National Council on Archives Rules for the Construction of Personal, Place and Corporate Names, 1997.

Date(s) of descriptions:
August 2001; updated December 2005.