My name is Geraldine McClelland and I have chosen to die today [7 December]. I am 61 years old and am dying from lung and liver cancer, which metastasised from my breast cancer two years ago. The lung cancer is now causing me serious breathing problems, meaning I am largely confined to my flat. I have chosen to travel abroad to die because I can not have the death I want here in the UK. I would like to be able to choose to take medication to end my life if my suffering becomes unbearable for me, at home, with my family and friends around me. But the law in this country prevents me from doing so. As a result I am travelling abroad to take advantage of Switzerland's compassionate law.
“The current legal status of assisted dying is inadequate and incoherent...” The Commission on Assisted Dying was set up in September 2010 to consider whether the current legal and policy approach to assisted dying in England and Wales is fit for purpose. In addition to evaluating the strengths and weaknesses of the legal status quo, the Commission also set out to explore the question of what a framework for assisted dying might look like, if such a system were to be implemented in the UK, and what approach to assisted dying might be most acceptable to health and social care professionals and to the general public.
A man who was virtually paralysed by a stroke has won the first step in his legal bid to pursue his right-to-die. Known only as Martin, he would require professionals to help as his wife has said she will not assist him. But current guidance suggests they may be prosecuted, where loved ones would not, and Martin's case is this discriminates against him. This High Court judgement means lawyers and doctors can discuss assisted dying with him, but only to prepare his case.
The Commission on Assisted Dying, set up in September 2010 and chaired by former Lord Chancellor Charles Falconer, has issued its monumental report on assisted dying in England and Wales. The Commission was funded by two supporters of assisted suicide, author Terry Pratchett and businessman Bernard Lewis, and despite reassurances that the running and outcome of the Commission were independent, some individuals and groups opposed to the practice regrettably refused to give evidence to the Commission. Still, the range and quantity of the evidence, which included evidence gathered from international research visits, qualitative interviews and focus groups, commissioned papers, and seminars, is impressive and can be read and watched here.
Guidance for the Investigation Committee and case examiners when considering allegations about a doctor’s involvement in encouraging or assisting suicide. Draft for consultation Start: Feb 6, 2012 End: May 4, 2012 Results Published: Jul 31, 2012
The General Medical Council is launching its first ever guidelines on assisted suicide. The new guidelines will help the GMC decide if doctors should face a disciplinary panel if they are alleged to have encouraged or assisted suicide. A draft version is to be subject to a three month public consultation period. The GMC's chief executive, Niall Dickson said "the main message is that assisting suicide is illegal and doctors should have no part of it". The GMC, which is the regulatory authority for doctors, decided to produce the guidelines after the case of a severely paralysed man, which was highlighted by the BBC last summer. The man, given the pseudonym "Martin", told the PM Programme that he wanted to end his life and was taking legal action to try to get advice and help to do so.
Dignity in Dying has today welcomed MPs' historic decision to back Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) guidelines on assisted suicide, as well as MPs endorsement of further development of end-of-life care via an amendment to the motion. The DPPs guidelines make clear that those who compassionately assist a loved one to die at their request are unlikely to be prosecuted, and that those who maliciously encourage the death of another will feel the full force of the law.
To ask Her Majesty's Government how they assess the application of the Director of Public Prosecutions's Policy for Prosecutors in Respect of Cases of Encouraging or Assisting Suicide.
The draft Bill sets out the legal process by which assisted dying could be accessed and constructs a system of safeguards, regulation, and monitoring of the process.
The focus of this article is upon compassionate killings, that is, criminal cases where a parent/spouse has killed or assisted to die a child/spouse who was suffering from severe disabilities, debilitating injury, chronic or terminal illness. We argue that the partial defence of diminished responsibility, while appropriate for some cases, fails to acknowledge the compassionate and relational nature of these acts and thus fails to identify the quality of the harm committed. We also argue that the general defences of duress of circumstances and necessity, even if they were to be become available, are inappropriate. Developing the concept of ‘compassion’, which is a consideration in relation to prosecution for assisted suicide, we argue for the introduction of a partial defence of ‘compassionate killing’ which would reduce the offence from murder to manslaughter in recognition of the killing as a responsive, relational act of care.
Campaigners fear assisted suicide is being legalised by the back door as record numbers of Britons end their lives at Dignitas – while their relatives escape investigation for helping them. The Swiss suicide clinic helped 33 people from this country to die last year – the highest ever annual figure – pushing the total during the past decade close to 250. But police passed only a handful of files to prosecutors over the assistance provided by loved ones, and no one was charged. A police worker even accompanied her mother to Switzerland but faced no sanction. The Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO) has recently issued new guidelines to every force in the country about how they should investigate assisted suicides. Although the document is restricted, this newspaper has been shown the section that deals with deaths abroad. It highlights how tough such inquiries can be because of the difficulty in obtaining evidence from foreign authorities.
ACPO lead on homicide responds to the Mail on Sunday making it clear that where we recieve information or intelligence about assisted suicide cases, these investigations are pursued The police service is responsible for investigating cases of encouraging or assisting suicide involving British nationals whether it takes place in the UK or abroad. Whenever we receive information or intelligence about such a case, these investigations are pursued. It is therefore entirely misleading to suggest that ACPO is advising police officers not to investigate deaths abroad (“Assisted suicide 'is legalised' by police: Secret new guidelines from senior officers mean deaths are not investigated”, 24 Feb). The very purpose of such guidance is to assist investigation, by outlining specific considerations for investigators including the legal context and the need to engage with the CPS at earliest stages of an encouraged or assisted suicide inquiry. This is a complex area of investigation and over-si...
The police service is responsible for investigating cases of encouraging or assisting suicide, whether the actual suicide takes place in the UK or abroad and whenever we receive information or intelligence about such a case, these investigations are pursued. Following renewed guidance from the CPS, ACPO has developed specific guidance for police officers investigating such cases. The guidance encourages investigators to engage with the CPS at the very early stages of an encouraged or assisted suicide inquiry. When the police are informed of suicides that have taken place abroad this involves enquiries that lead to consideration of jurisdictional issues which can be complicated by other nations legal systems. Furthermore the progress of any investigation in part relies on the co-operation of foreign police services and agencies. It also requires any UK police force to be able to prove beyond reasonable doubt the circumstances under which the person died and this can be difficult...
Assisted suicide Some concern has been expressed in the media today about the effect of the CPS's policy for prosecutors in respect of cases of encouraging or assisting suicide. Assisting or encouraging suicide remains a criminal offence. The CPS guidelines do not, and could not, replace the law. While no prosecutions have been brought since the guidelines were issued, each case is considered on its own facts and merits and any inference that the CPS has implemented a blanket policy of not prosecuting for this offence is wrong.
A woman who helped her elderly parents to die told an inquest how she gave them glasses of poison and watched in stunned silence as they died. Georgina Roberts, 59, ordered the lethal drug over the internet and prepared it for them after her parents had been rejected for assisted suicide in Switzerland and failed at one attempt to kill themselves, an inquest in Newbury, Berkshire heard. "My actions were motivated entirely by compassion and love for my mother and father," she said. David Arnold, 82, a retired doctor, and his wife Elizabeth, 85, decided to end their lives when he became a bed-ridden amputee and she was diagnosed with dementia and Alzheimer's disease.