header-logo header-logo

The assisted dying Bill: all for nothing?

17 January 2025 / Simon Parsons
Issue: 8100 / Categories: Opinion , Health , Human rights , Criminal
printer mail-detail
203857
The Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill has prompted fierce debate on both sides, but is a Bill needed at all? Simon Parsons considers the existing law & guidance

The Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill put forward last year by Kim Leadbeater MP (which is now at committee stage in the House of Commons) states that anyone who wants to end their life can do so if they are over 18 years old and domiciled in England and Wales, are registered with a GP, have the mental capacity to make the choice to end their own life, and have expressed a clear, settled and informed wish to do so, free from coercion or pressure. That person must be expected to die within six months, have made two separate signed and witnessed declarations about their desire to die, and convinced two independent doctors that they are eligible. A High Court judge would have to rule in favour of the assisted suicide. A patient would then have

If you are not a subscriber, subscribe now to read this content
If you are already a subscriber sign in
...or Register for two weeks' free access to subscriber content

MOVERS & SHAKERS

Gilson Gray—Linda Pope

Gilson Gray—Linda Pope

Partner joins family law team inLondon

Jackson Lees Group—five promotions

Jackson Lees Group—five promotions

Private client division announces five new partners

Taylor Wessing—Max Millington

Taylor Wessing—Max Millington

Banking and finance team welcomes partner in London

NEWS
The landmark Supreme Court’s decision in Johnson v FirstRand Bank Ltd—along with Rukhadze v Recovery Partners—redefine fiduciary duties in commercial fraud. Writing in NLJ this week, Mary Young of Kingsley Napley analyses the implications of the rulings
Barristers Ben Keith of 5 St Andrew’s Hill and Rhys Davies of Temple Garden Chambers use the arrest of Simon Leviev—the so-called Tinder Swindler—to explore the realities of Interpol red notices, in this week's NLJ
Mazur v Charles Russell Speechlys [2025] has upended assumptions about who may conduct litigation, warn Kevin Latham and Fraser Barnstaple of Kings Chambers in this week's NLJ. But is it as catastrophic as first feared?
Lord Sales has been appointed to become the Deputy President of the Supreme Court after Lord Hodge retires at the end of the year
Limited liability partnerships (LLPs) are reportedly in the firing line in Chancellor Rachel Reeves upcoming Autumn budget
back-to-top-scroll