A group of leading lawyers, peers and former judges warned last week that the new assisted suicide guidelines pose ‘serious dangers for public safety’ and could increase the number of elderly and infirm people who will be pressured into killing themselves.
They warned that the proposed changes of the law go against the will of Parliament and risk reducing the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) from an enforcer of the law to an arbitrator.
Baroness Butler-Sloss, the retired head of the High Court’s Family Division, Lord Mackay of Clashfern, a former Lord Chancellor (1987–1997), Lord Carlile of Berriew, the Government’s terrorism legislation adviser, Lord Walton of Detchant, Professor Sheila Hollins, a former President of the Royal College of Psychiatrists and Baroness Campbell of Surbiton are among those have come together in a unique coalition to express concern about the impact of the changes proposed by the DPP.
(Click here to read the Lord Carlile’s article)
The group says that the new guidance is ‘not fit for purpose’. They signed up to a hard-hitting response to the proposals from campaign group Care Not Killing, in which it warns that changes to the law could mean that the lives of stroke-sufferers, disabled people and those with arthritis, could be at risk.
(See also their letter to The Times)
The Daily Telegraph reports that the group’s response says:
‘Among the factors proposed as tending against prosecution are that the deceased was seriously ill or incurably disabled or had a history of suicide attempts. In Care Not Killing’s view these proposals are discriminatory as well as dangerous.’
The proposal that serious illness or disability might be a mitigating factor in whether to prosecute someone for assisting a suicide ‘flies in the face of the declared will of Parliament’, which has twice in the past four years rejected legalisation on assisted suicide in such cases.
Peter Saunders, the director of Care Not Killing, said:
‘The current law acts as a powerful deterrent against abuse and exploitation of vulnerable people and has been firmly upheld by Parliament.
‘Removing these safeguards could lead to increase in vulnerable and disabled people being pressured into ending their lives.’
The group also condemned the wording of the guidelines, suggesting that they ‘pose serious risks of misinterpretation’ and there were ‘serious defects’ in some of the proposed reasons for charging.
In all, 11 of the 29 specific criteria proposed for deciding whether to prosecute or not to prosecute were judged to be ‘unacceptable in any circumstances’.
Dr Saunders added:
‘We recognise the attempt that the DPP has made to carry out a very difficult remit given to him by the Law Lords, and there are several aspects of the guidelines that we can support.
‘But current guidelines adopt, however unwittingly, the political assumptions of the pro-euthanasia lobby, that assisted suicide will not be prosecuted if the right boxes are ticked.’
The group says that the guidance must have a clear statement at its beginning explaining that assisting a suicide is a criminal offence and that, ‘in the absence of a decision by Parliament to change the law, it will remain so’.
They warned that giving spouses, partners, close relatives and personal friends ‘special category status’ as assisters of suicide is wrong and absolutely unacceptable. They said:
‘While it is conceivable that a spouse or close family member might assist a suicide out of a feeling of compassion for the victim, the reality is that many cases of abuse, and especially elder abuse, are committed within the family environment.
‘The notion that those closest to the victim are necessarily 'loved ones’ is fallacious.’
On 23 September 2009, the DPP had published the guidelines setting out key factors in his decision making in cases of assisted suicide. The guidelines represent an interim policy. He is calling for public participation in a 12-week consultation on the identified factors before he produces the final guidelines.
The guidelines, which will apply in the UK as well as to Britons travelling overseas, were drawn up on the orders of five Law Lords who ruled on 30 July that the DPP should clarify the law by ‘promulgating an offence-specific policy identifying the facts and circumstances which he will take into account’ in assisted suicide cases.
The ruling of the Law Lords came after Debbie Purdy, who has multiple sclerosis, went to the courts seeking assurances that her husband will not be prosecuted if he helps her go to commit suicide.
(See the CCFON report)
Media links
Daily Telegraph (Commentary of Lord Carlile of Berriew)