header-logo header-logo

Home Login E-newsletter About us
14 September 2012 / Seamus Burns
Issue: 7529 / Categories: Features , Public , Human rights
printer mail-detail

The death of humanity?

© Copyright LexisNexis 2026. All Rights Reserved.

The Nicklinson case confirms the supremacy of Parliament, says Seamus Burns

The tragic and harrowing case of Tony Nicklinson, has reignited the on-going debate about the prohibition of active voluntary euthanasia (AVE), and assisted suicide (AS), in the UK (R (on the application of Nicklinson) v Ministry of Justice; R (on the application of AM) v Director of Public Prosecutions and others [2012] EWHC 2381 (Admin), [2012] All ER (D) 105 (Aug)).

Tony Nicklinson (the applicant) had suffered a catastrophic stroke in June 2005, at the age of 51, rendering him paralysed below the neck and unable to speak. He was incapable of moving anything but his head and eyes and could only communicate by alternatively blinking to indicate a letter held up by his wife on a Perspex board or by use of an eye blink computer to word process faster. Tony could eat mashed up food but swallowing was “a difficult and laborious business”, and fluids were obtained by means of a percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy tube. He was “virtually

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

Read All
Sponsored by
Carey Olsen—Patrick Ormond

Carey Olsen—Patrick Ormond

Partner joinscorporate and finance practice in British Virgin Islands

Dawson Cornwell—Naomi Angell

Dawson Cornwell—Naomi Angell

Firm strengthens children department with adoption and surrogacy expert

Penningtons Manches Cooper—Graham Green

Penningtons Manches Cooper—Graham Green

Media and technology expert joins employment team as partner in Cambridge

NEWS
Read All
NLJ this week: Divorce ‘nuclear weapon’ freezes assets but entangles outsiders
Freezing orders in divorce proceedings can unexpectedly ensnare third parties and disrupt businesses. In NLJ this week, Lucy James of Trowers & Hamlins explains how these orders—dubbed a ‘nuclear weapon’—preserve assets but can extend far beyond spouses to companies and business partners 
NLJ this week: What counts as ‘rent’? Court says labour alone won’t do
A Court of Appeal ruling has clarified that ‘rent’ must be monetary—excluding tenants paid in labour from statutory protection. In this week's NLJ, James Naylor explains Garraway v Phillips, where a tenant worked two days a week instead of paying rent
Your magistrates’ court needs you!
Thousands more magistrates are to be recruited, under a major shake-up to speed up and expand the hiring process
NLJ this week: Freed but failed—justice system leaves the innocent empty-handed
Three men wrongly imprisoned for a combined 77 years have been released—yet received ‘not a penny’ in compensation, exposing deep flaws in the justice system. Writing in NLJ this week, Dr Jon Robins reports on Justin Plummer, Oliver Campbell and Peter Sullivan, whose convictions collapsed amid discredited forensics, ‘oppressive’ police interviews and unreliable ‘cell confessions’
NLJ this week: Clarity on whistleblowing, settlements and tribunal limits
A quiet month for employment cases still delivers key legal clarifications. In his latest Employment Law Brief for NLJ, Ian Smith reports that whistleblowing protection remains intact even where disclosures are partly self-serving, provided the worker reasonably believes they serve the ‘public interest’ 
Copyright © 2026 LexisNexis
back-to-top-scroll