The Department of Health’s Reference Guide to Consent for Examination or Treatment (2001), states that, under certain circumstances, treatment rejection is considered to be legally binding.

The Adults with Incapacity (Scotland) Act of 2000 is the main legislative text concerned with decision making carried out by a proxy on behalf of an incapacitated person.

The Mental Health Care & Treatment Scotland Act 2003 came into effect on 5th October 2005. This law says how people with a mental illness, learning disability or other mental disorder can be given care and treatment

Advance Directives only deal with treatment rejection .

According to the law, advance statements are not legally binding, but a medical practitioner is obliged to take their contents into account when considering a course of treatment.