header-logo header-logo

The Assisted Dying Bill: a different take

28 February 2025 / Dr Graham Zellick CBE KC FAcSS
Issue: 8106 / Categories: Opinion , Human rights , Health
printer mail-detail
209440
The Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill is not the seminal, fundamental reform it is said to be, argues Graham Zellick

We are repeatedly told, at least by its critics, that the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill is the most important piece of legislation to come before Parliament for decades. On this basis, it has been suggested that it is being rushed; that the Bill is poorly drafted; that it should be a government Bill and not a Private Member’s Bill; that it is inescapably a slippery slope; that it exposes the vulnerable to great risk; and for all these reasons and others it should be resisted and rejected.

Given that assisted dying for the sick has been on the agenda for nearly a century and has been much discussed in Parliament and outside in recent years, the argument as to speed is risible. The drafting is actually rather impressive and if anything owes too much to anticipating and accommodating the

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

Boies Schiller Flexner—Tim Smyth

Boies Schiller Flexner—Tim Smyth

Firm promotes London international arbitration specialist to partnership

Katten Muchin Rosenman—James Davison & Victoria Procter

Katten Muchin Rosenman—James Davison & Victoria Procter

Firm bolsters restructuring practice with senior London hires

HFW—Guy Marrison

HFW—Guy Marrison

Global aviation disputes practice boosted by London partner hire

NEWS
Writing in NLJ this week, NLJ columnist Dominic Regan surveys a landscape marked by leapfrog appeals, costs skirmishes and notable retirements. With an appeal in Mazur due to be heard next month, Regan notes that uncertainties remain over who will intervene, and hopes for the involvement of the Lady Chief Justice and the Master of the Rolls in deciding the all-important outcome
After the Southport murders and the misinformation that followed, contempt of court law has come under intense scrutiny. In this week's NLJ, Lawrence McNamara and Lauren Schaefer of the Law Commission unpack proposals aimed at restoring clarity without sacrificing fair trial rights
The latest Home Office figures confirm that stop and search remains both controversial and diminished. Writing in NLJ this week, Neil Parpworth of De Montfort University analyses data showing historically low use of s 1 PACE powers, with drugs searches dominating what remains
Boris Johnson’s 2019 attempt to shut down Parliament remains a constitutional cautionary tale. The move, framed as a routine exercise of the royal prerogative, was in truth an extraordinary effort to sideline Parliament at the height of the Brexit crisis. Writing in NLJ this week, Professor Graham Zellick KC dissects how prorogation was wrongly assumed to be beyond judicial scrutiny, only for the Supreme Court to intervene unanimously
A construction defect claim in the Court of Appeal offers a sharp lesson in pleading discipline. In his latest 'Civil way' column for NLJ, Stephen Gold explains how a catastrophically drafted schedule of loss derailed otherwise viable claims. Across the areas explored in this week's column, the message is consistent: clarity, economy and proper pleading matter more than ever
back-to-top-scroll