This year's BBC Reith lecturer is former supreme court judge Jonathan Sumption QC, who was one of the judges in the Tony Nicklinson case. In his first lecture "Law’s Expanding Empire", he looked at what we expect of the law and how it's aims have developed over the years. The programme can be heard here, [...]
Endgame is a documentary made over 18 months in 2017/8 by independent film maker Andi Reiss. It has been shown, with much praise, at many film festivals and at independent venues. He has now made it available to view on his Vimeo site. A link is embedded at the bottom of this page. The film, [...]
Recently, it was reported that Sarah Ninian, the wife of Alexander Ninian who ended his life at the Swiss clinic Dignitas in 2017, was entitled to inherit from her husband. Mr Ninian, who had been deemed mentally competent, had been suffering since 2013 from progressive supra-nuclear palsy, an incurable disease which can lead to a [...]
BBC Radio 4 recently broadcast a 2 part programme about Debbie Purdy. The first part is a dramatisation of the story of how Debbie took her legal case to the House of Lords and as a result caused the director of public prosecutions, (DPP), to issue guidelines clarifying the facts to be considered when deciding [...]
Today, assisted dying campaigner Noel Conway has lost permission to bring a case before the Supreme Court. Diagnosed with Motor Neurone Disease (MND) four years ago, the retired teacher from Shrewsbury, is dependent upon a ventilator for up to 23 hours a day and has limited movement in his right hand, neck and head. Mr [...]
The BBC reported the inquest into the death of Beryl Taylor(70) who died in Rattlesden, Suffolk, in July 2016. The case is also reported in more detail in the East Anglian Daily Times. Mrs Taylor’s husband had been arrested on suspicion of assisted suicide, and later murder. He was subsequently released. The coroner made a [...]
MDMD’s Campaigns and Communication Manager, Keiron McCabe, breaks down the judgement behind Omid’s defeat. On Tuesday 2nd October 2018, Omid T’s assisted dying case , known as R (on the Application of T) v Ministry of Justice [2018] EWHC 2615 (Admin), lost at its first hurdle in the High Court. In order to challenge the UK’s [...]
MDMD's Campaigns and Communications Manager, Keiron McCabe, spoke exclusively with “Endgame” director Andi Reiss about Omid’s journey. Andi was present at Omid's medically assisted suicide in Switzerland. Photo: Omid and Andi, shortly before Omid's death at Lifecircle Switzerland. Photo credit: Andi Reiss How did you first become interested in the issues around Assisted Dying? My [...]
Omid T: A Legacy of Bravery, Compassion and Empowerment Photo: Omid and Dr Erika Preisig at Lifecircle, shortly before his medically assisted death. Photo Credit - Andi Reiss I'm glad you're here; thank you, thank you for everyone's support - Omid (1964 - 2018) On October 4th 2018, assisted dying campaigner, Omid T chose to [...]
The latest stage of Omid’s legal case to be allowed an assisted death in the UK was heard in the High Court on 7/8th March 2018. The Daily Mail reported it here. Omid’s legal team argued for the right to cross-examine expert witnesses – in particular to question the written evidence given by Baroness Ilora [...]