Germany’s constitutional court has ruled that a law forbidding professional assistance to die is unconstitutional, in a move that is being seen as a major victory for assisted dying campaigners. The decision centred on a controversial 2015 law, which legalised the right for individuals to purchase life-ending substances for ‘altruistic motives’, but forbade doctors or [...]
Phil Newby has been denied permission by the Court of Appeal to challenge the UK’s prohibitive law on assisted dying. Phil, 49, a father of two and member of My Death, My Decision, suffers from the degenerative condition motor neurone disease. His legal case had raised over £48,000 in donations from the public and had [...]
Today, the High Court has rejected permission for Paul Lamb, a severely disabled man, to challenge the law on assisted dying. Paul, who is paralysed from the neck down, requires 24-hour care, by a team of seven carers, who wash and feed him and support him in his day-to-day functions. In rejecting permission for his [...]
Phil Newby, an incurably suffering father of two, has been denied permission to challenge the UK’s ban on assisted dying. In a handed down judgment from the High Court, Lord Justice Irwin and Mrs Justice May ruled against permission to judicially review the UK’s ban on assisted dying. A member of the right-to-die group My [...]
Phil Newby, a man who is facing incurable suffering and wants the right to challenge the UK’s ban on assisted dying, yesterday appealed for permission before the High Court. The 49-year-old father of two, who suffers from the degenerative condition motor neurone disease, has already raised over £42,000 in donations from the public. Phil could [...]
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 [...]