18 April 2025
The safeguarding role of a High Court judge in the assisted dying bill currently before Parliament has been replaced by the oversight of a panel comprising a psychiatrist, social worker and lawyer. In this week’s NLJ, Sir Mark Hedley, a retired High Court judge, shares his reflections on the loss of the judicial role itself.
Sir Mark does so ‘from the perspective of 11 years’ service as a High Court judge of the Family Division, who heard some ten cases in which my decision led (or was expected to lead) to the death of a child or an adult. Each case remains seared in my memory even after 12 years of retirement’.
While Sir Mark emphasises that he offers no comment on the merits of the Bill itself, he makes several observations on the operation and consequences of the Bill, which the legislators may not have appreciated and from the point of view of an experienced judge.RELATED ARTICLES
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