from the Inner Temple Library
“Former cabinet ministers, senior lawyers and a prominent campaigner for older people will today try to lift the threat of imprisonment hanging over relatives accompanying loved ones who go abroad to kill themselves.”
The Guardian, 7th July 2009
Source: www.guardian.co.uk
“Prime minister would not support proposal backed by more than 100 MPs to allow families to help terminally ill relatives to die.”
The Guardian, 20th March 2009
Source: www.guardian.co.uk
“Police are not investigating the deaths of the husband and wife who became the first terminally ill British couple to be helped to die together in Switzerland, it emerged yesterday.”
The Guardian, 7th March 2009
Source: www.guardian.co.uk
Regina (Purdy) v Director of Public Prosecutions
Court of Appeal
“The refusal by the Director of Public Prosecutions to publish detailed guidance as to the circumstances in which individuals would or would not be prosecuted for assisting another person to commit suicide was lawful.”
The Times, 24th February 2009
Source: www.timesonline.co.uk
Please note the Times Law Reports are only available free on Times Online for 21 days from the date of publication.
R (Purdy) v Director of Public Prosecutions [2009] EWCA Civ 92; [2009] WLR (D) 62
“The Director of Public Prosecutions did not act unlawfully in failing to publish detailed guidance as to the circumstances in which individuals would or would not be prosecuted for assisting another person to commit suicide.”
WLR Daily, 19th February 2009
Source: www.lawreports.co.uk
Please note once a case has been reported in one of the ICLR series the corresponding WLR Daily summary is removed.
“A woman with multiple sclerosis who is fighting to clarify the law on assisted suicide lost her case in the appeal court yesterday although campaigners said the ruling gave the clearest indication yet that anyone who helps a relative take their own life will not face criminal sanctions.”
The Guardian, 20th February 2009
Source: www.guardian.co.uk
“A woman with multiple sclerosis has lost her Appeal Court case to clarify the law on assisted suicide.”
BBC News, 19th February 2009
Source: www.bbc.co.uk
“A woman with multiple sclerosis who lost her High Court case to clarify the law on assisted suicide is set to appeal against the decision.”
BBC News, 3rd February 2009
Source: www.bbc.co.uk
“The director of public prosecutions has said the law on assisted suicide is ‘workable’ in its current form.”
BBC News, 9th January 2009
Source: www.bbc.co.uk
“The recent debate about assisted suicide and the right to die is dangerous territory for vulnerable people with dementia.”
The Times, 13th December 2008
Source: www.timesonline.co.uk
“Campaigners seeking to lift the ban on assisted suicide were dealt a blow yesterday when Gordon Brown repeated his opposition to a change in the law.”
The Times, 11th December 2008
Source: www.timesonline.co.uk
“Despite it being legal for a person to take their own life, under the 1961 Suicide Act, aiding or abetting someone to do so carries a potential jail term of up to 14 years.”
Daily Telegraph, 9th December 2008
Source: www.telegraph.co.uk
“The decision by the Director of Public Prosecutions not to prosecute Daniel James’s parents boosts the case for reform of the law, lawyers and campaigners said yesterday.”
The Times, 10th December 2008
Source: www.timesonline.co.uk
“Daniel James was a fiercely independent young man who made his own decision to commit suicide despite his parents’ relentless attempts to change his mind, the Director of Public Prosecutions said yesterday.”
The Times, 10th December 2008
Source: www.timesonline.co.uk
“The husband of a distinguished novelist told how he was forced to leave his wife of 50 years to die a ‘horrible, lonely death’ because of the ‘idiocy’ of the assisted suicide law.”
Daily Telegraph, 26th November 2008
Source: www.telegraph.co.uk
Regina (Purdy) v Director of Public Prosecutions
Queen’s Bench Divisional Court
“The statutory prohibition on assisted suicide did not engage the right to private life protected under article 8.1 of the European Convention on Human Rights.”
The Times, 17th November 2008
Source: www.timesonline.co.uk
Please note the Times Law Reports are only available free on Times Online for 21 days from the date of publication.
“Last February Josie Grove, 16, died after her parents backed her decision to forgo painful treatment for leukaemia. Her mother, Jacqui, talks to Olga Craig about her death, and applauds the bravery of ‘right-to-die’ teenager Hannah Jones.”
Daily Telegraph, 16th November 2008
Source: www.telegraph.co.uk
“British campaigners seeking to decriminalise assisted suicide today welcomed news from the US election that voters in the state of Washington had backed the introduction of legislation to permit a form of euthanasia.”
The Guardian, 5th November 2008
Source: www.guardian.co.uk
R (Purdy) v Director of Public Prosecutions [2008] EWHC 2565; [2008] WLR (D) 337
“The Director of Public Prosecutions did not act unlawfully in failing to publish detailed guidance as to the circumstances in which individuals would or would not be prosecuted under s 2(1) of the Suicide Act 1961 for assisting another person to commit suicide.”
WLR Daily, 30th October 2008
Source: www.lawreports.co.uk
Please note once a case has been fully reported in one of the ICLR series the corresponding WLR Daily summary is removed.
“The issue of assisted suicide has again been thrust into public view with another UK court case.”
BBC News, 29th October 2008
Source: www.bbc.co.uk
“Many people who heard Debbie Purdy’s dignified plea for clarity on whether her husband would be prosecuted if he assisted her suicide have been moved by the reasonableness of her request. Lord Justice Scott Baker said the court could not leave the case without expressing ‘great sympathy’.”
The Times, 29th October 2008
Source: www.timesonline.co.uk
“A terminally ill woman who wants her husband to help her die has lost her landmark High Court legal bid to clarify the law on assisted suicide.”
Daily Telegraph, 29th October 2008
Source: www.telegraph.co.uk
“Prosecutors fear a high court judgment today will lead to the first criminal cases against people who helped their terminally ill relatives to die.”
The Guardian, 29th October 2008
Source: www.guardian.co.uk
“Any reform of the law on assisting suicide is a matter for Parliament, not prosecutors, the Director of Public Prosecutions has told The Times.”
The Times, 27th October 2008
Source: www.timesonline.co.uk
“The case of a rugby player who died in a Swiss assisted suicide clinic is to be referred to the complex case unit of the Crown Prosecution Service.”
BBC News, 20th October 2008
Source: www.bbc.co.uk
“Police are investigating the death of a paralysed rugby player who went to Switzerland for an assisted suicide.”
The Independent, 17th October 2008
“Baroness Warnock, Britain’s leading expert on medical ethics and a vocal supporter of euthanasia, has said that it would be wrong to give immunity from prosecution to relatives who help terminally ill patients to die abroad.”
The Times, 4th October 2008
Source: www.timesonline.co.uk
“A woman suffering from multiple sclerosis is facing the ‘dilemma’ of when to take steps to kill herself or whether to wait until she needs help from her husband and risk his prosecution, the High Court was told yesterday. “
The Times, 3rd October 2008
Source: www.timesonline.co.uk
“Assisted suicide is outlawed in the UK, with the 1961 Suicide Act making it illegal to ‘aid, abet, counsel or procure the suicide of another’. Helping somebody to die carries a prison sentence of up to 14 years.”
The Guardian, 2nd October 2008
Source: www.guardian.co.uk
“A woman with multiple sclerosis has told the BBC she wants the High Court to clarify the law on assisted suicide.”
BBC News, 2nd September 2008
Source: www.bbc.co.uk
“More than 100 Britons have travelled to Switzerland to make use of laws that allow assisted suicide, a practice prohibited in Britain.”
The Times, 2nd October 2008
Source: www.timesonline.co.uk
“A terminally ill woman will this week launch a landmark legal battle to ensure that her husband is not prosecuted for helping her travel abroad to end her life.”
The Observer, 28th September 2008
Source:http://observer.guardian.co.uk
“The law on assisting suicide is to be simplified to increase public understanding and reassure people that it applies as much on the internet as it does off-line, Justice Minister, Maria Eagle said today.”
Ministry of Justice,17th September 2008
Source: www.justice.gov.uk
“A man who tried to carry out a suicide pact with his wife after she was taken into care with dementia has been spared jail by a judge at the Old Bailey.”
BBC News, 30th June 2008
Source: www.bbc.co.uk
“Former health minister Lord Warner has backed calls for a law change to allow assisted death for terminally-ill patients who want to die.”
BBC News, 23rd June 2008
Source: www.bbc.co.uk
“This woman doesn’t want to die, so why has she asked the High Court to allow her husband to assist in her suicide?”
Daily Telegraph, 15th June 2008
Source: www.telegraph.co.uk
“A multiple sclerosis sufferer won permission today to bring a High Court challenge to clarify the law on assisted suicide.”
The Independent, 11th June 2008
Source: www.independent.co.uk
“A woman with multiple sclerosis is due to ask the High Court to clarify the law on suicide.”
BBC News, 11th June 2008
Source: www.bbc.co.uk
“A woman who suffers from a degenerative disease has called for the law on assisted suicide to be clarified so that she can decide when she wants to die.”
The Independent, 7th June 2008
Source: www.independent.co.uk
“A husband who helped his wife to kill herself rather than watch her continue to suffer from a debilitating disease was given a 12-month suspended sentence yesterday.”
The Times, 2nd February 2008
Source: www.timesonline.co.uk
“A woman who helped an elderly friend to commit suicide was spared jail yesterday by a judge who said that she had acted ‘out of love and affection’.
The Times, 12th January 2008
Source: www.timesonline.co.uk
“More than 30 Britons have written statements confessing to helping friends or relatives to die at a Swiss euthanasia clinic as part of a test case to change the law.”
The Times, 12th November 2007
Source: www.timesonline.co.uk
“A man who had intended to end his life by the time of his 48th birthday has delayed it because of legal wrangles.”
BBC News, 26th July 2007
Source: www.bbc.co.uk
“A devoted husband who killed his wife after she begged him to help her die was convicted of murder yesterday. Retired accountant Frank Lund, 58, admitted suffocating his wife Patricia, 65, with a plastic bag and a pillow at their home in New Brighton, Merseyside, in September.”
The Independent, 10th May 2007
Source: www.independent.co.uk
“British courts regard euthanasia as murder and can impose a penalty of life imprisonment. Helping someone to commit suicide is also a criminal offence, punishable with a maximum 14-year jail sentence.”
The Independent, 8th May 2007
Source: www.independent.co.uk
“A terminally ill woman has been forced to abandon a ground-breaking bid to end her own life, it was announced today.”
The Independent, 19th April 2007
Source: www.independent.co.uk
“A computer analyst who posted a message on the internet offering to help suicide attempts was cleared yesterday of breaking the law after a judge ruled that there was insufficient evidence.”
The Times, 13th April 2007
Source: www.timesonline.co.uk
