Assisted dying remains one of the most fraught fault lines in English law, where compassion and criminal liability sit uncomfortably close. Writing in NLJ this week, Julie Gowland and Barny Croft of Birketts examine how acts motivated by care—booking travel, completing paperwork, or offering emotional support—can still fall within the wide reach of the Suicide Act 1961
The article explains why prosecutions are rare but real, guided by DPP policy rather than immunity, and why inquests are increasingly the first legal reckoning for families and advisers alike. The civil consequences are just as stark: under the forfeiture rule, those who assist may lose inheritance rights unless courts exercise discretion.
Against this backdrop, the authors assess the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill, now before the Lords, questioning whether its safeguards and reliance on medical judgement truly reflect modern medical reality. Until reform arrives, practitioners must navigate a regime that criminalises conduct many see as humane.
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