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Assisted Dying: Leading legal experts tell MPs current law no longer fit for purpose

New analysis of Home Office crime figures highlights two-thirds of ‘aiding suicide’ investigations failing to gather sufficient evidence Justice Committee Chair: “It is the status quo which lacks protections, and this Bill which will deliver them”

Andy Slaughter MP, Chair of the Justice Select Committee, is joining leading legal experts in alerting MPs to the risks of Parliament failing to update the law on assisted dying, as he confirms that he will support Kim Leadbeater MP’s Bill on Choice at the End of Life.

The longstanding Labour MP for Hammersmith and Chiswick is chairing a Parliamentary panel briefing in a personal capacity this evening, Wednesday 20th November, at which former Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) Sir Max Hill KC and other leading barristers will highlight to MPs the scant protections that exist under the current law.

The intervention comes as new analysis of Home Office crime figures by the Dignity in Dying campaign reveals that, over the last three years, two-thirds (65.8%) of investigations into the offence of ‘aiding suicide’ have been dropped due to lack of evidence.

The data indicates that, despite launching dozens of investigations under Section 2 of the 1961 Suicide Act each year, police forces more often than not fail to gather sufficient evidence for cases to proceed, reporting ‘evidential difficulties’. This means they were unable to sufficiently determine the circumstances surrounding the death or the nature of the assistance provided.

Since 2010, police have only referred 187 such cases to the Crown Prosecution Service, despite more than 400 Britons travelling to Switzerland for an assisted death in that time, the vast majority of whom have travelled from England and Wales. Only Dignitas releases these figures annually, but other Swiss organisations provide services to foreign nationals, so the true figure is unknown.

A growing number of legal experts – including three former DPPs – are raising concerns about the lack of protections for terminally ill people under the current law, arguing that the new law proposed by Kim Leadbeater MP will establish new protections where currently none exist.

All MPs have received a detailed legal opinion endorsed by three leading barristers – Alex Goodman KC, Stephanie Harrison KC and Chris Buttler KC – emphasising the “constitutional awkwardness” of the gulf between what the law says and what the CPS does, contributing to discriminatory and unpredictable application of the law in practice.

Andy Slaughter MP said:

“MPs shouldn’t be content with a position which forces terminally ill people to endure suffering in the final days and weeks of their lives. We should recognise that others are already being assisted to die abroad, but without any protection from our law.

“Those who plan their deaths in secret at the moment may be doing so because they feel that they are a burden, but because they can’t discuss their fears with their families, they are unable to be reassured.

“It is the status quo which lacks protections, and this Bill which will deliver them.”

Sarah Wootton, Chief Executive of Dignity in Dying, said:

“This data raises a critical question for MPs considering which way to vote on 29th November. Do they really believe that incomplete investigations after someone has died offer more protection than the clear, upfront safeguards proposed in the Bill?

“We have no way of knowing how many people go abroad for an assisted death every year. There is no upfront monitoring of capacity assessments or checks against coercion in these cases, or any of the vital protections that this Bill would put in place.

“Bringing these decisions into the protective arms of the law, with clear, upfront safeguards, is the only way to offer safety in choice at the end of life.”

Kim Leadbeater’s Bill on Choice at the End of Life is the most thorough proposal Parliament has ever considered on assisted dying, setting out a practical model for law change.

Under the Bill, a person requesting assisted dying must be terminally ill, mentally competent and in their final six months of life, and will need the certification of two doctors and a High Court judge to be approved. All requests must be made based on a clear, settled and informed decision by the person concerned.

All of the options available, including palliative care and pain relief, must be discussed. The dying person’s decision must be confirmed at every stage, and they can change their mind at any time, with mandatory periods of reflection built into the process. If the request is granted and the individual chooses to use the medication, it must be self-administered.

The Bill also creates a new offence for anyone found to have coerced someone towards an assisted death, with a maximum sentence of 14 years.

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For more information please contact Joseph Crook at Dignity in Dying at joseph.crook@dignityindying.org.uk or 07356 135578.