header-logo header-logo

NLJ this week: Unanswered questions on assisted dying

06 June 2025
Issue: 8119 / Categories: Legal News , Criminal , Health & safety , Human rights
printer mail-detail
221395
The assisted dying bill, as currently drafted, risks criminalising compassionate actions and leaves too much to prosecutorial discretion, Edward Hodgson, associate, and Andrew Smith, partner, Corker Binning, argue in this week’s NLJ

One of the safeguards under the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill is cl 26, a new criminal offence of applying ‘dishonesty, coercion or pressure’. Hodgson and Smith identify several unanswered questions about cl 26 and the definitions within.

They write: ‘At present, the boundaries of the offences are worryingly vague.’ 

MOVERS & SHAKERS

Birketts—trainee cohort

Birketts—trainee cohort

Firm welcomes new cohort of 29 trainee solicitors for 2025

Keoghs—four appointments

Keoghs—four appointments

Four partner hires expand legal expertise in Scotland and Northern Ireland

Brabners—Ben Lamb

Brabners—Ben Lamb

Real estate team in Yorkshire welcomes new partner

NEWS
Robert Taylor of 360 Law Services warns in this week's NLJ that adoption of artificial intelligence (AI) risks entrenching disadvantage for SME law firms, unless tools are tailored to their needs
From oligarchs to cosmetic clinics, strategic lawsuits against public participation (SLAPPs) target journalists, activists and ordinary citizens with intimidating legal tactics. Writing in NLJ this week, Sadie Whittam of Lancaster University explores the weaponisation of litigation to silence critics
Delays and dysfunction continue to mount in the county court, as revealed in a scathing Justice Committee report and under discussion this week by NLJ columnist Professor Dominic Regan of City Law School. Bulk claims—especially from private parking firms—are overwhelming the system, with 8,000 cases filed weekly
Writing in NLJ this week, Thomas Rothwell and Kavish Shah of Falcon Chambers unpack the surprise inclusion of a ban on upwards-only rent reviews in the English Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill
Charles Pigott of Mills & Reeve charts the turbulent progress of the Employment Rights Bill through the House of Lords, in this week's NLJ
back-to-top-scroll