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" THE JUDGE WHO AGONISED ALL NIGHT THE JUDGE WHO AGONISED ALL NIGHT   By   Ch. Irshad Ahmed [Additional Secretary, Ministry of Law and Justice, Islamabad,]   Who was the judge? The judge was Sir Alan Hylton Ward of Family Division of the High Court of England. He said: " I confess to having agonised all night to reach my conclusion"; and after reaching the conclusion the judge expressed a general thanks to all counsel but special thanks to the Official Solicitor and to Mr. Michael Nicholls of his department "for the rapid response to my cry for help ...." (See In re T.(Adult: Refusal of Treatment) 1992 3 WLR 782 at p. 792; (1992) 4 All ER 649). What agonised the judge all night and why he was crying for help? He was an out and out judge. It was not his personal problem. He was concerned with a situation giving rise to a conflict between two interests, that of a patient and that of the society in which the patient lived, the patient's interest consisted of his right of self determination his right to live his own life how he wished even if it will damage his health or lead to his premature death. Society's interest in upholding the concept that all human life is sacred and that it should be preserved if at all possible. It is well established that in the ultimate the right of the individual is paramount.   The legal position is firm that an adult patient who suffers from no mental incapacity has an absolute right to choose whether to consent to medical treatment, to refuse it or to choose one rather another of the treatments being offered. This right of choice is not limited to decisions which others might regard as sensible. It exists notwithstanding that the reasons for making the choice are rational, irrational, unknown or even…