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Right to Die Case Will Be Heard

Right to Die Case Will Be Heard

This week a High Court judge ruled that a man suffering from Locked-in Syndrome should have his ‘right to die’ case heard, highlighting the importance of planning for the unexpected with relevant documentation.

Challinors Partner and head of the Wills, Trust and Probate team, Fiona Debney, comments:

Documents or advance directives can be prepared by anyone that is over 18 and considered to therefore have capacity and understands the nature and effect of what they are saying, either written or oral. 

The case of Tony Nicklinson, who was paralysed after suffering a stroke in 2005, is significant – he has locked-in syndrome, which means he is unable to move or care for himself in anyway, but his mind is still fully functioning. He is unable to take his own life, and is seeking legal protection for any medical professional who helps him end his life.

The judge's ruling means that Mr Nicklinson's case will go to a full hearing, where medical evidence can be heard. 

The judge has ruled that his case should be heard.  For the judge to rule that Mr Nicklinson’s right to die case should be heard in court is a significant step and the knock-on effects of the court’s decision have the potential to be huge.

Mr Nicklinson’s desire holds some parallels with the case of Debbie Purdy, an MS sufferer, who in 2009 asked for a ruling to clarify whether her husband would be prosecuted if he helped her to end her life in Switzerland. The case was reported around the same time as a young man paralysed following a rugby accident, who had in fact travelled with his parents to Switzerland to die.

At that time, the Director of Public Prosecutions issued guidance including a range of public interest factors that would tend in favour of prosecution,” explains Fiona. “He did not change the law on assisted suicide but gave indications of what would mitigate the case - notably that the victim had been clear in their wish to die and that they had been assisted out of compassion only and not motivated by financial greed of those assisting him/her in fulfilling their wishes.

In a similar case last year, Kay Gilderdale was cleared of attempted murder after she admitted assisting her disabled daughter to die. In that case one factor that was taken in to account was that her daughter had previously tried to commit suicide.

Tony Nicklinson has a slightly different concern in that his current medical condition means that he cannot attempt to end his own life and does require assistance to do so.

These cases all have moral and ethical undertones for sure but moreover serve to demonstrate just how complicated the issue of assisted living and dying truly is. As a solicitor, these cases force us to think about planning for the unthinkable. Can we give our families guidance as to what we would want in this position by the use of what are commonly known as ‘living wills’. Have we discussed our own attitudes to such situations with those close to us? Have we in fact planned for who is going to care for us by making a Power of Attorney? There are many steps that can be taken but so many of us put off.

Following the judge's ruling that his case can proceed, Mr Nicklinson's wife Jane read out a statement from her husband on BBC 5live.

The statement said: "I'm delighted that the issues surrounding assisted dying are to be aired in court. Politicians and others can hardly complain with the courts providing the forum for debate if the politicians continue to ignore one of the most important topics facing our society today.

"It's no longer acceptable for 21st Century medicine to be governed by 20th Century attitudes to death."

Mr Nicklinson, who communicates through the use of an electronic board or special computer, said before the ruling that his life was "dull, miserable, demeaning, undignified and intolerable".

Mrs Nicklinson has said that "he just wants to know that, when the time comes, he has a way out. If you knew the kind of person that he was before, life like this is unbearable for him," she added.

 

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