“A former Lord Chancellor has warned that new guidelines on assisted suicide will expose the Director of Public Prosecutions to challenge in the courts.”
The Times, 1st August 2009
Source: www.timesonline.co.uk
“A groundbreaking change in the law on assisted suicides could become inevitable tomorrow when the UK’s highest court delivers its judgment in the case of Debbie Purdy, whose long legal fight has put her at the centre of the controversy.”
The Guardian, 29th July 2009
Source: www.guardian.co.uk
“Today I am talking to Lord Falconer, a former Lord Chancellor, about two important and interesting themes – assisted dying and his amendment to the Suicide Act defeated in the Lords recently and secondly his thoughts on the reasoning behind establishing a new Supreme Court and the direction it may, in time, take.”
Charon QC, 28th July 2009
Source: www.charonqc.wordpress.com
“Charon QC” is the blogging pseudonym of Mike Semple Piggot, editor of insitelaw newswire.
“A move to relax the law on assisted dying was thrown out by the Lords on Tuesday night. Peers voted by 194 to141 to reject a proposal to allow people to help someone with a terminal illness travel to a country where assisted suicide is legal.”
The Times, 8th July 2009
Source: www.timesonline.co.uk
“Former cabinet ministers, senior lawyers and a prominent campaigner for older people will today try to lift the threat of imprisonment hanging over relatives accompanying loved ones who go abroad to kill themselves.”
The Guardian, 7th July 2009
Source: www.guardian.co.uk
“Debbie Purdy and Michael Wenham, both living with terminal illnesses, put their opposing views ahead of this week’s Lords debate.”
The Independent, 28th June 2009
Source: www.independent.co.uk
“A British man has called for a change in the law on assisted suicides after revealing how he helped his partner end his life, by travelling with him to a controversial suicide clinic in Switzerland.”
The Guardian, 15th June 2009
Source: www.guardian.co.uk
“Under current law if you accompany a terminally ill relative to a clinic, knowing they are going there to be assisted in ending their own life, you are committing a crime. The Suicide Act 1961, now almost half a century old, makes this clear when it says that it is unlawful to “aid, abet, counsel or procure” the suicide of another person.”
The Times, 3rd June 2009
Source: www.timesonline.co.uk
“A woman with multiple sclerosis is urging the House of Lords to clarify the law on assisted suicide.”
BBC News, 2nd June 2009
Source: www.bbc.co.uk
“Lord Falconer, the former cabinet minister, has backed a campaign to provide legal protection to people who travel abroad to help terminally ill relatives commit suicide.”
The Times, 31st May 2009
Source: www.timesonline.co.uk
“Prime minister would not support proposal backed by more than 100 MPs to allow families to help terminally ill relatives to die.”
The Guardian, 20th March 2009
Source: www.guardian.co.uk
“Police are not investigating the deaths of the husband and wife who became the first terminally ill British couple to be helped to die together in Switzerland, it emerged yesterday.”
The Guardian, 7th March 2009
Source: www.guardian.co.uk
Regina (Purdy) v Director of Public Prosecutions
Court of Appeal
“The refusal by the Director of Public Prosecutions to publish detailed guidance as to the circumstances in which individuals would or would not be prosecuted for assisting another person to commit suicide was lawful.”
The Times, 24th February 2009
Source: www.timesonline.co.uk
Please note the Times Law Reports are only available free on Times Online for 21 days from the date of publication.
R (Purdy) v Director of Public Prosecutions [2009] EWCA Civ 92; [2009] WLR (D) 62
“The Director of Public Prosecutions did not act unlawfully in failing to publish detailed guidance as to the circumstances in which individuals would or would not be prosecuted for assisting another person to commit suicide.”
WLR Daily, 19th February 2009
Source: www.lawreports.co.uk
Please note once a case has been reported in one of the ICLR series the corresponding WLR Daily summary is removed.
“A woman with multiple sclerosis who is fighting to clarify the law on assisted suicide lost her case in the appeal court yesterday although campaigners said the ruling gave the clearest indication yet that anyone who helps a relative take their own life will not face criminal sanctions.”
The Guardian, 20th February 2009
Source: www.guardian.co.uk
“A woman with multiple sclerosis has lost her Appeal Court case to clarify the law on assisted suicide.”
BBC News, 19th February 2009
Source: www.bbc.co.uk
“A woman with multiple sclerosis who lost her High Court case to clarify the law on assisted suicide is set to appeal against the decision.”
BBC News, 3rd February 2009
Source: www.bbc.co.uk
“The director of public prosecutions has said the law on assisted suicide is ‘workable’ in its current form.”
BBC News, 9th January 2009
Source: www.bbc.co.uk
“The recent debate about assisted suicide and the right to die is dangerous territory for vulnerable people with dementia.”
The Times, 13th December 2008
Source: www.timesonline.co.uk
“Campaigners seeking to lift the ban on assisted suicide were dealt a blow yesterday when Gordon Brown repeated his opposition to a change in the law.”
The Times, 11th December 2008
Source: www.timesonline.co.uk
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