consent

View more Law & Legal Issues videos

verb

1. To respond affirmatively; receive with agreement or compliance: accede, accept, acquiesce, agree, assent, nod, subscribe, yes. See agree/disagree.
2. To give one's consent to: allow, approbate, approve, authorize, endorse, let, permit, sanction. Informal OK. See allow/prevent.

noun

1. The act or process of accepting: acceptance, acquiescence, agreement, assent, nod, yes. Informal OK. See accept/reject.
2. The approving of an action, especially when done by one in authority: allowance, approbation, approval, authorization, endorsement, leave, license, permission, permit, sanction. Informal OK. See allow/prevent.

Definition: agreement; concession
Antonyms: denial, difference, disagreement, disapproval, dissension, objection, opposition, protest, refusal

v

Definition: agree
Antonyms: differ, disagree, disapprove, dissent, object, oppose, protest, refuse

Acquiescence or agreement. More elaborately, the attachment of an agent's will to a proposal, action, or outcome, such that the agent accepts (some share of the) responsibility for the consequences and/or legitimizes an action or state of affairs which, in the absence of consent, would lack legitimacy or legality. For example, the difference between rape and ordinary sexual relations depends upon consent. Legal systems do not always allow consent to remove the illegality of an act, in the sense that the consent of the ‘victim’ will not always be treated as a defence. This may be because the law exhibits paternalism, or because it is intending to enforce a moral code which sees particular acts as wrong irrespective of their consensual nature. The presence of consent has been an important test of political legitimacy in many theories, it being argued that the state or government would have no right to direct a person's behaviour unless that person's consent to be governed had been given. Consent conceptually embraces a wide range of attitudes, from grudging acquiescence to enthusiastic agreement. Arguments about the legitimizing force of consent need to accommodate this fact. When consent is given explicitly and expressly, its legitimizing force is at least plausible. Difficulties arise, however, when the presence or absence of consent has to be inferred from a person's actions (or inactions), because that explicitness is absent. Is anything short of active dissent to be construed as tacit consent? Locke recognized this problem, although the answer he provided to it has not been regarded as satisfactory. He distinguished between express consent and tacit consent. A person gave tacit consent by behaving (or failing to behave) in particular ways. Since the giving of consent has been taken to have these important consequences for responsibility and legitimacy, attention has naturally focused on the circumstances in which consent is given: for example, are those circumstances free from coercion or improper influence? Does the agent have a genuine choice? Is the consent given by a person with adequate knowledge of what his or her decision involves? This last question has produced the notion of informed consent: that is, consent given by a person who has the information required to give meaning to the attachment of his or her will to the proposal, action, or outcome. Clearly, a person with incomplete or inadequate knowledge might consent enthusiastically to a proposal that would be rejected if that person had a fuller understanding of what was involved. Because of the connection between consent and the conferral of legitimacy, both the state of mind and the maturity of the agent have to be considered. For example, contracts entered into under undue stress might be considered voidable; children are debarred from consenting to many proposals because they are considered to lack the necessary decision-making competence. Many attempts have been made to refine our understanding of consent, leading to further distinctions between actual and hypothetical consent, between prospective and retrospective consent, and between strong and weak consent.

— Andrew Reeve

A central concern of liberal political theory is to determine the place of consent in the legitimation of social and political practices. Coercion, exploitation, fraud, deception, and perhaps more general categories of treating people as means, all imply a lack of someone's consent to what has happened. Conversely, just or permissible transactions imply either the actual or potential consent of affected parties. In order to remove the obvious problem that a person may be bound by the laws of a country when there has been no episode of actual consent, a doctrine of tacit consent was developed by Locke. More common now is a concept of potential consent, that is, of a situation being such that an appropriately placed subject would or could rationally consent to it. It is possible to envisage the entire moral and political framework built upon the idea of those interactions to which a person could rationally consent, although the development of this theme requires a view of the motivations as well as the knowledge, rationality, and situation of the agent. See also contractarianism, Rawls.

Voluntary acquiescence to 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.

LearnThatWord.com is a free vocabulary and spelling program where you only pay for results!

In law, voluntary agreement with an action proposed by another, e.g. agreement to treat, to euthanatize. Consent is an act of reason so that the person consenting must be sane and of sufficient age to be capable of giving consent. Written consent is an agreement in writing.

• informed c. — agreement to a proposition when the consenting person is in possession of all of the facts relevant to the decision. In the eyes of the law the consent of a client to a surgical operation, to a financial expenditure, to euthanasia carries no authority unless the client is fully informed about what is to be done and what the alternatives are. If this is not done the client is entitled to sue for damages if the outcome is unsatisfactory.

The concurrence of wills; permission.

• Acts, Powers, Conditions, and Procedures - consent: willingness of people to submit to authority of civil government

Tort law
Part of the common law series
Intentional torts
Assault Battery False imprisonment Intentional infliction of emotional distress (IIED) Transferred intent
Property torts
Trespass (land, chattels) Conversion Detinue Replevin Trover
Defenses
Assumption of risk Comparative negligence Contributory negligence Consent Necessity Statute of limitations Self-defense Defense of others Defense of property Shopkeeper's privilege
Negligence
Duty of care Standard of care Proximate cause Res ipsa loquitur Calculus of negligence Rescue doctrine Duty to rescue Specific types Negligent infliction of emotional distress (NIED) Employment-related Entrustment Malpractice (legal, medical)
Liability torts
Product liability Quasi-tort Ultrahazardous activity
Nuisance
Public nuisance Rylands v. Fletcher
Dignitary torts
Defamation Invasion of privacy False light Breach of confidence Abuse of process Malicious prosecution Alienation of affections Seduction
Economic torts
Fraud Tortious interference Conspiracy Restraint of trade
Liability, remedies
Last clear chance Eggshell skull Vicarious liability Volenti non fit injuria Ex turpi causa non oritur actio Neutral reportage Damages Injunction Torts and conflict of laws Joint and several liability Comparative responsibility Market share liability
Duty to visitors
Trespassers Licensees Invitees Attractive nuisance
Other common law areas
Contracts Criminal law Evidence Property Wills, trusts and estates
Portals
Law
v t e

Consent refers to the provision of approval or agreement, particularly and especially after thoughtful consideration.^[1][2]

Contents 1 Types of consent 2 Tort 3 Medicine 4 Planning law 5 See also 6 References 7 External links

Types of consent

This unreferenced section requires citations to ensure verifiability.

• Implied consent is a controversial form of consent which is not expressly granted by a person, but rather inferred from a person's actions and the facts and circumstances of a particular situation (or in some cases, by a person's silence or inaction).
• Expressed consent may be in verbal, nonverbal or written form and is clearly and unmistakably stated.
  • Verbal consent is given by using verbal communication.
  • Nonverbal consent is given by using nonverbal communication.
• Unanimous consent, or general consent, is a parliamentary procedure.

Tort

Can be either expressed or implied. For example, participation in a contact sport usually implies consent to contact by other participants, when contact is permitted by the rules of the sport. Express consent exists when verbal or written contractual agreement occurs.

If a person signs a document stating that he or she is aware of the hazards of an activity, and that individual is then injured during that activity, the express consent given in advance may excuse another person who caused an injury to that person.

In English law, the principle of volenti non fit injuria applies not only to participants in sport, but also to spectators and to any others who willingly engage in activities where there is a risk of injury. Consent has also been used as a defense in cases involving accidental deaths, which occur during sexual bondage. Time (May 23, 1988) referred to this latter example, as the "rough-sex defense" but it is not effective in English law when serious injury or death results.

As a term of jurisprudence prior provision of consent signifies a possible defence (an excuse or justification) against civil or criminal liability. Defendants who use this defense are arguing that they should not be held liable for a tort or a crime, since the actions in question occurred with the plaintiff or "victim's" prior consent and permission.^{[citation needed]}

For rape that involves criminal law in the United Kingdom, see consent (criminal law).

Medicine

See also: Informed consent

The question of consent is important in medical law. For example, a surgeon may be liable in trespass (battery) if they do not obtain consent for a procedure. There are exemptions, such as when the patient is unable to give consent.

Also, a surgeon must explain the significant risks of a procedure (those that might change the patient's mind about whether or not to have it) before the patient can give binding consent. This was explored in Australia in Rogers v. Whitaker (1992) 175 CLR 479. If a surgeon does not explain a material risk that subsequently eventuates, then that is considered negligent.^[3] These material risks include the loss of chance of a better result if a more experienced surgeon had performed the procedure.^[4]

Planning law

Some countries, such as New Zealand with its Resource Management Act and its Building Act, use the term "consent" for the legal process that provide planning permission for developments like subdivisions, bridges or buildings. Achieving permission results in getting "Resource consent" or "Building consent".

See also

• Assumption of risk
• Consent of the governed
• Implied consent
• Volenti non fit injuria
• Age of consent
• Decision-making by consent

References

1. ^ Consent Definition from Merriam-Webster dictionary.
2. ^ Assent definition from Merriam-Webster dictionary
3. ^ Chester v. Afshar [2005] 1 AC 134
4. ^ Chappel v. Hart (1998) 195 CLR 232

External links

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Consent

well notes

This entry is from Wikipedia, the leading user-contributed encyclopedia. It may not have been reviewed by professional editors (see full disclaimer)

Common misspelling(s) of consent

• conscent

Dansk (Danish)
n. - enighed
v. intr. - samtykke, indvilge

idioms:

• consenting adult    over den seksuelle lavalder
• give one's consent to    give sit samtykke
• with one's consent    med ens samtykke

Nederlands (Dutch)
toestemming, toestemmen

Français (French)
n. - consentement, accord mutuel, autorisation
v. intr. - consentir à qch

idioms:

• consenting adult    adulte consentant
• give one's consent to    donner son consentement à
• with one's consent    avec son accord

Deutsch (German)
n. - Zustimmung, Einwilligung
v. - einwilligen

idioms:

• consenting adult    erwachsene homosexuelle Person
• give one's consent to    Zustimmung geben zu
• with one's consent    mit jmds. Zustimmung

Ελληνική (Greek)
n. - συγκατάθεση, συναίνεση
v. - συγκατατίθεμαι, συναινώ, (συναπο)δέχομαι

idioms:

• consenting adult    συναινών ενήλικος
• give one's consent to    δίνω τη συγκατάθεσή μου σε
• with one's consent    με τη συγκατάθεσή μου

Italiano (Italian)
consenso, permesso, assentimento, autorizzazione, approvazione

idioms:

• by common consent    per comune consenso
• by general consent    per consenso generale
• consenting adult    adulto consenziente
• give one's consent to    dare il proprio consenso a
• with one's consent    con il consenso di

Português (Portuguese)
n. - consentimento (m)
v. - consentir

idioms:

• age of consent    maioridade (f)
• by common consent    de comum acordo
• by general consent    de comum acordo
• consenting adult    indivíduo (m) que atingiu a maioridade
• give one's consent to    dar permissão para
• with one's consent    com a permissão de alguém

Русский (Russian)
согласие

idioms:

• age of consent    совершеннолетие
• by common consent    по общему согласию
• by general consent    по общему согласию
• consenting adult    совершеннолетнее согласие
• give one's consent to    давать согласие на
• with one's consent    с соглашением

Español (Spanish)
n. - consentimiento, asentimiento
v. intr. - dar el consentimiento o el asentimiento

idioms:

• consenting adult    consentimiento entre mayores de edad (esp. un acto homosexual)
• give one's consent to    dar el consentimiento para
• with one's consent    con su consentimiento

Svenska (Swedish)
n. - samtycke
v. - samtycka, ge sitt medgivande

中文（简体）(Chinese (Simplified))
同意, 许可, 答应, 赞成

idioms:

• consenting adult    两个成人之间的同意
• give one's consent to    同意, 承诺
• with one's consent    经由某人的同意

中文（繁體）(Chinese (Traditional))
n. - 同意, 許可
v. intr. - 同意, 答應, 贊成

idioms:

• consenting adult    兩個成人之間的同意
• give one's consent to    同意, 承諾
• with one's consent    經由某人的同意

한국어 (Korean)
n. - 동의 , 승낙
v. intr. - 동의하다, 동감하다

idioms:

• give one's consent to    승낙하다
• with one's consent    ~의 승낙으로

日本語 (Japanese)
v. - 同意する
n. - 同意

idioms:

• with one's consent    満場一致で

العربيه (Arabic)
‏(الاسم) موافقه, قبول, رضا (فعل) وافق, قبل, رضي, أذن له‏

עברית (Hebrew)
n. - ‮הסכמה‬
v. intr. - ‮הסכים‬

If you are unable to view some languages clearly, click here.