Judith Johnson a 45-year-old female, who is a prominent attorney in the community, has been practising in Durban, KwaZulu-Natal for the past 20 years. Judith is a healthy and active person who has completed the Comrades 10 times and runs 10 kilometres with a local running club every Saturday.
A few months ago, Judith was on a routine run on a Saturday. After her run, she started to experience back pain. At the time, she believed that she may have strained a muscle. The next day she went to see her sports massage therapist to try and relieve her strained muscle in her back. A few days later, the pain was getting progressively worse, and she decided to see her local doctor. The doctor advised that an X-Ray and blood test be conducted on the same day and that Judith will need to wait for the doctor to call her with the results.

At 7pm, the day of the X-Ray and Blood test, Judith received a call from her doctor advising her to come and see him the next morning to discuss the results. Judith sat down with her doctor and was advised that the tests indicate that she has pancreatic cancer and that the cancer markers in the blood test are high. Judith is shocked and very emotional and remembers the pain and suffering her friend went through with her pancreatic cancer and does not want to suffer and be in pain.
Judith is referred to a specialist doctor who advised her that she has an aggressive cancer growing on her pancreas and the chances of surviving this form of cancer is low. Judith is advised that the first treatment is to undergo surgery to try cut out the areas where there is cancer to prevent spreading, thereafter chemotherapy treatments will be conducted, and further blood tests will be done to establish whether the treatments have been working.
After the first treatment, Judith undergoes chemotherapy and starts to lose weight rapidly. She is unable to control her bowel, extremely fatigued and nauseous. She is in excruciating pain and has been given strong pain killers, however the pain killers make her extremely tired, and she has been sleeping in her bed for long periods of the day. Over the next few weeks and towards the last chemotherapy treatment, Judith now weights 40 Kilograms and is unable to walk, bath, and use the toilet by herself.
Further blood samples and X-Rays are taken to determine whether the treatments have worked however she is advised by her doctor that the results show that her cancer has continued to spread throughout her body and that ultimately the treatments have failed, and it is predicted that she would only have a few months to live.
Judith asks her doctor whether there was a way in which she can end her pain and suffering and to be given the choice to die with dignity and on her own terms. The doctor advises her that he will not assist her in her death as he is bound by legislation and the medical profession to preserve life. The only option he can ethically do is provide medication to treat the symptoms she is experiencing as a result of the cancer and refer her Step-Down Care Facility where she will be made comfortable and taken care of as she succumbs to the cancer.
Judith is not happy with the doctor's recommendation and tells her mother, Ms. Angelique Johnson, she believes that this option violates her constitutional rights to dignity and integrity and that she has the right to die on her own terms. She gives her mother her Living Will which directs in the event where she is unable to eat or drink on her own, artificial feeding and artificial life support should not be used.
Over the next few weeks, Judith's condition deteriorates at her home and is unable to talk and move. The specialist doctor advises the family that the cancer has spread to her brain and recommends that the time has come for her to go to Step-Down Care Facility. Upon arrival at the facility, Angelique notices that her daughter has been given an artificial feeding tube. She provides the facility with Judith's Living Will, however the medical staff

reject the Living Will and believe that withholding artificial feeding would amount to assisted suicide, murder, and a violation of the right to life as stated in the Constitution. The Director of the facility, Mr. Peter Brown, shortly thereafter contacted Angelique, advising her that his staff are mandated by medical law legislation to act in the best interest of patients and must follow the letter of the law in this regard and is not bound by the Living Will.
WRITE A FIRAC METHOD 

IDENTIFY FACTS, ISSUES,RULES,APPLICATION AND Conclusion
Angelique Johnson is extremely unhappy with the decision of the facility to ignore her daughter's wishes in the Living Will and approaches Dignity Attorneys INC where you are a candidate attorney. Angelique is unsure about her daughter's legal position and requires legal advice and specifically whether the Step-Down Care Facility may be ordered to desist from providing artificial treatments and/or procedures to Judith. Your principal is unsure about this area of law and asks you to draft a Legal Memorandum for him.
INSTRUCTIONS:
Taking into account the facts above, you are to research case law, legislation and other relevant sources of law taking into account the following suggested issues:
• Whether the "right to life" also takes account the "right to die" as one chooses, in a dignified manner.
• Whether a living will or resisting treatment before dying is consonant with the right to life.
• Whether the act, by medical practitioners, of assisting with euthanasia amounts to a criminal offence of murder in South Africa.
• Whether Angelique may approach the High Court on an urgent basis interdicting Step-Down Care Facility from providing artificial treatments and/or procedures to Judith.
Note to students: the following three cases below must be incorporated into your argument as well as legislation, journal articles and other relevant sources of law:
• Clarke v Hurst NO and Others 1992 (4) SA 630 (D);
• Stransham-Ford v Minister of Justice and Correctional Services and Others 2015 (4) SA 50 (GP);
• Minister of Justice and Correctional Services and Others v Estate Law James Stransham-Ford and Others 2017 (3) SA 152 (SCA);

• Analyse precedent and apply the FIRAC model to a set of legal facts.
• reading - legal texts, statute, cases.
• research - making use of library resources and legal databases and referencing sources.
• Apply relevant methods, techniques and strategies involved in legal research and problem solving in theoretical and applied situations.
• Obtain detailed knowledge about, and the ability to critically analyse fundamental legal concepts, principles, and theories and to relate these principles and theories to underlying values and norms, including to those norms and values supporting the Constitution.
• Collect, organise, analyse, and critically evaluate information and evidence from a legal perspective.
• Resolve complex and diverse legal problems creatively, critically, ethically, and innovatively.
• Solve problems ethically and creatively in a given legal and social context.
• Become familiar with legal referencing as per the IIE Legal Referencing Style Guide to be applied to where necessary.

 

 

1. What types of legal documents are you aware of?
2. In your view, what most distinguishes a legal document from other texts? Why?
3. In business, how formal do you think the writing needs to be is in:
   1. A legal memorandum? Why?
   2. A written letter? Why?
   3. An e-mail? Why?
4. What type(s) of information does an office memorandum usually contain?
5. What characteristics does a written letter have in common with a legal memorandum?
6. What basic format and guidelines must be followed when writing a letter to a client?
7. In what ways does an email written to a client or an opponent differ from a written letter?
8. What are the guidelines for drafting legal documents?
   1. Why do some legal documents require multiple drafts before the final draft?
9. Find some of the answers in the following resources:
10. Structure Your Legal Memorandum
11. Briefs, Legal Memoranda and Legal Writing
12. 10 Tips for better legal writing

[END]

 

Choose any two brain imaging procedures used in practice and create a side-by-side comparison (in table format) detailing how each understands various abnormalities in the brain. Discuss any similarities or differences and provide clear examples where necessary.
An example of a side-by-side comparison is shown in the link below. This is to guide you. https://www.researchgate.net/figure/Comparison-of-particular-theories-in-respect-of-distance-learning-through-its_tbl1_299470590