Legal permission will no longer be required by courts in the UK before life-supporting treatment is withdrawn from patients with severely debilitating illnesses, a high court judge in London has ruled. As long as doctors and relatives of the patient are in agreement and medical guidelines have been observed there is no need to bring a lengthy case to obtain judicial authorisation, Mr Justice Peter Jackson declared. His ruling affects those deemed to be in persistent vegetative or minimally conscious states. The ruling was welcomed by pro-euthanasia groups. Sarah Wootton, the chief executive of Compassion in Dying, said: “[This] is a helpful step towards a clearer, more person-centred view of end-of-life care. When all parties – family, the hospital and treating doctors – are agreed on what someone would have wanted for their care, it seems absurd to require a costly court process to confirm this.”