As of October, the United Kingdom will have a Supreme Court. Today, the last ruling of the Law Lords sitting in the House of Lords was handed down. The Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) must make clear the circumstances under which he will direct a prosecution of any person who accompanies someone else to Switzerland’s Dignitas clinic to commit suicide.
There have been many cases of people here who have had fatal diseases and who wished to be assisted to commit suicide before they descended into a state in which they would be unreasonably disabled and dependent upon others for living and in a state of constant pain. A few weeks ago a famous conductor (whom I, unfortunately, had never heard of) and his wife travelled to Switzerland to Dignitas and committed suicide together, as the conductor’s wife had incurable bowel cancer and he was totally dependent on her for daily life (he was deaf and blind, among other infirmities). A rugby player who was a quadriplegic after a playing accident travelled there to commit suicide several years ago.
When they travel to Switzerland with someone to assist them and then commit suicide, the helper, upon returning to the United Kingdom, has usually been interviewed by the police to determine whether they will be prosecuted for assisting someone to commit suicide. There have not been any prosecutions in these circumstances. However, people have been concerned that, after they own suicide, their helper will be prosecuted and, upon asking the DPP what the criteria are for prosecutions, the DPP has refused to give them.
The Law Lords have now made it clear that the DPP must publish guidelines under which people will be prosecuted for assisting someone to commit suicide in this way. A clear victory for incurably ill people who wish to have some control over the end of their lives but who do not wish to put their loved ones in jeopardy.
This is a great relief for the woman who brought the case (and who is suffering from multiple sclerosis). The DPP, of course, might rule that all people who assist people to commit suicide at Dignitas must be prosecuted. I think that’s unlikely.
Suicide is not something you want to encourage. However, in cases like these, suicide to avoid great suffering is noble (in my opinion) and permissible with strict controls in order to ensure that people are not coerced into the act. We shall see what comes from the DPP.
In October the Law Lords will become Justices of the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom, separated from the legislature and sitting across Parliament Square in a newly-renovated building. History is made yet again.