Consent

views updated May 14 2018

CONSENT

Voluntaryacquiescenceto the proposal of another; the act or result of reaching an accord; a concurrence of minds; actual willingness that an act or an infringement of an interest shall occur.

Consent is an act of reason and deliberation. A person who possesses and exercises sufficient mental capacity to make an intelligent decision demonstrates consent by performing an act recommended by another. Consent assumes a physical power to act and a reflective, determined, and unencumbered exertion of these powers. It is an act unaffected by fraud, duress, or sometimes even mistake when these factors are not the reason for the consent. Consent is implied in every agreement.

Parties who terminate litigation pursuant to a consent judgment agree to the terms of a decision that is entered into the court record subsequent to its approval by the court.

In the context of rape, submission due to apprehension or terror is not real consent. There must be a choice between resistance and acquiescence. If a woman resists to the point where additional resistance would be futile or until her resistance is forcibly overcome, submission thereafter is not consent.

consent

views updated May 14 2018

consent (kŏn-sent) n. agreement to undergo medical treatment or to participate in medical research. Four conditions must apply for consent to be valid: 1) the patient must be given sufficient information (see informed consent); 2) the patient must be competent, i.e. he or she must have the capacity to understand, retain, and weigh up the information and to make a rational decision; 3) the patient must be in a position to decide voluntarily, i.e. without external pressure; and 4) the patient must communicate his or her decision. The law requires consent to be evidenced in writing only in special cases, such as recruiting a subject to a clinical trial. The need to obtain informed consent before proceeding with treatment is precluded in three circumstances: emergency, incompetence, and therapeutic privilege.

consent

views updated Jun 08 2018

con·sent / kənˈsent/ • n. permission for something to happen or agreement to do something: no change may be made without his consent.• v. [intr.] give permission for something to happen: he consented to a search by a detective. ∎  agree to do something.

consent

views updated May 18 2018

consent sb. XIII. — OF. consente, f. consentir (whence consent vb. XIII) — L. consentīre agree, accord, f. CON- + sentīre feel (see SENSE).

Consent

views updated May 11 2018

Consent

a party united by a common agrement; adherents to an opinion collectively.

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