Use of independent witnesses will guard against undue influence on patients
Multiple sclerosis sufferer Debbie Purdy is appealing to the House of Lords to clarify the law on assisted suicide and has been backed by the former lord chancellor, Lord Falconer, who was due to table an amendment in the House of Lords this week.
Purdy is seeking to ensure her husband will not be prosecuted if he travels with her to the Dignitas clinic in Switzerland for an assisted suicide.
Currently, the offence of aiding and abetting suicide attracts a maximum punishment of 14 years in prison.
The courts have previously said that it is up to Parliament to change the law.
Lord Falconer’s proposed amendment, to the Coroners and Justice Bill, will exempt relatives from prosecution as long as two GPs have certified a patient is terminally ill, and the individual has declared their intentions before an independent witness.
Dr Peter Gooderham, a law tutor at Cardiff University and a former medical doctor, says: “Lord Falconer makes a strong point that while the DPP has so far refrained from prosecuting about 100 people in this context, most have had to undergo police interviews.
“There is potentially much to be gained from establishing a legal exception to s 2 of the Suicide Act for relatives who help severely ill patients to end their lives. Such an exception might perhaps be similar to the exception to criminal liability contained in the Abortion Act 1967.”
“It will be desirable to allow for doctors to be ‘conscientious objectors’, subject to General Medical Council guidance on this point. It would be necessary for ‘terminally ill’ to be carefully defined in order to avoid uncertainty and abuse. The proposed further safeguard of using an independent witness to certify the patient’s intention is likely to help guard against the exercise of undue influence on the patient.”
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