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1.Editor's note: the definition of weak paternalism that seems to have been used by this Committee echoes that used by Beauchamp and Childress: ‘Weak paternalism requires that some such form of compromised ability [to consent] be present’. Beauchamp T, Childress J. Principles of Biomedical Ethics. 4th edn. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1994:277. It could be argued that where there is compromised autonomy, actions are not paternalist at all, but instances of surrogate decision-making. On this understanding, weak paternalism refers to the extent to which autonomy is undermined and not the extent to which it is impaired .