We Urge MPs To Resist This Change

As MPs realise that the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill is neither a student debating motion nor the subject of a seminar, but primary legislation that would have life and death effects, this letter appears in The Observer:

As teachers and practitioners of law, we welcome Sonia Sodha’s thoughtful column and express our serious misgivings about the proposal to legalise physician-assisted suicide for the terminally ill. The law reports are littered with cases of undue influence and duress, and legalisation would inevitably expose the most vulnerable to that risk.

Other jurisdictions show both the difficulty of drafting effective legal safeguards and the tendency of such laws to expand. Canada has dropped its legal requirement that death be “reasonably foreseeable” and is set to allow euthanasia for mental illness in 2027. The Netherlands already allows euthanasia for mentally ill people and has proposed extending the law to elderly people with “completed lives”. Oregon has repealed its residency requirement and it is only a matter of time until its limitations to assisting suicide and to terminal illness – now being criticised as “barriers to access” – are dropped.

Such limitations in a UK law would be challenged in court as unjustly discriminatory. However well-intentioned the movers of the bill, we believe the UK would, sooner or later, follow other jurisdictions down the slippery slope. Nor should the involvement of high court judges be seen as a panacea, not least because our justice system is already under immense pressure. The risk of error is one reason why the European convention on human rights proscribes the death penalty; it is also a reason the law should not be relaxed. We urge MPs to resist this change.

Prof Mark Elliott, professor of public law, University of Cambridge; Dr Mary Neal, reader in healthcare law and ethics, school of law, University of Strathclyde; Thomas Teague KC, former chief coroner of England and Wales; Marianne Alton, Barrister, Lincoln House Chambers; Michael Ashe KC, barrister, England & Wales and Ireland; Prof John Bell KC (Hon), professor emeritus of law, University of Cambridge; Sir Robert Buckland KC, former lord chancellor; barrister, Foundry Chambers; Annoné Butler, solicitor and former government lawyer; Lord Carlile of Berriew KC, crossbencher, House of Lords; barrister; Dr Conor Casey, senior lecturer, University of Surrey School of Law; Thomas Chacko, barrister, Pump Court Tax Chambers; Naomi Cunningham, barrister, Outer Temple Chambers; Michael d’Arcy, barrister, One Essex Court; Benjamin Douglas, lecturer, UCL Faculty of Laws; Prof Richard Ekins KC, professor of law and constitutional government, University of Oxford; Prof Mark Elliott, professor of public law, University of Cambridge; Prof Timothy Endicott, Vinerian professor of English law, University of Oxford; Prof John Finnis KC (Hon), professor emeritus of law and legal philosophy, University of Oxford; Dr Michael Foran, lecturer in public law, University of Glasgow; Prof Charles Foster, fellow, Exeter College, Oxford; the Revd Justin Gau, barrister, Pump Court Chambers and assistant priest, St John’s, West Hackney; Harry Gillow, barrister, Monckton Chambers; Joseph Hart, barrister, Deans Court Chambers; James Hatt, barrister, 4 Pump Court; Prof John Keown, Kennedy Institute of Ethics, Georgetown (former senior lecturer in law, Cambridge); Sir Stephen Laws KC (Hon), first parliamentary counsel, 2006–12; senior research fellow, Policy Exchange; Audrey Ludwig, solicitor; Anna Lukina, fellow, LSE Law School; Max Marenbon, barrister, Serle Court Chambers; Nick McBride, college lecturer in law, Pembroke College, Cambridge; Prof Jonathan Morgan, professor of English law, University of Cambridge; Lord Murray of Blidworth, House of Lords, and barrister, 39 Essex Chambers; Dr Philip Murray, college assistant professor in law, Robinson College, Cambridge; Dr Mary Neal, reader in healthcare law and ethics, School of Law, University of Strathclyde; Timothy Pitt-Payne KC, barrister, 11KBW; Dr Jonathan Price, fellow of St Cross College, University of Oxford, and Matraszek fellow, Pusey House; Akua Reindorf KC, barrister, Cloisters Chambers, and visiting fellow, LSE Law School; Barbara Rich, barrister, 5 Stone Buildings; Prof Julian Rivers, professor of jurisprudence, University of Bristol; Prof Veronica Rodriguez-Blanco, professor of moral and political philosophy (jurisprudence), University of Surrey; Lord Sandhurst KC, House of Lords; barrister and former chairman of the Bar Council; Dr Rajiv Shah, former special adviser to the prime minister; Prof Nigel Simmonds, professor emeritus of jurisprudence, University of Cambridge; Dr Brian Sloan, assistant professor in law, University of Cambridge; Anthony Speaight KC, visiting professor, School of Law, University of Surrey; barrister; Tim Storrie KC, barrister, Lincoln House Chambers; The Revd Dr Simon Taylor KC, retired barrister; Thomas Teague KC, former chief coroner of England and Wales; Scott Wortley, lecturer in private law, University of Edinburgh; Dr Asanga Welikala, lecturer in public law, University of Edinburgh; Dr Paul Yowell, associate professor in law, University of Oxford; Dr Yuan Yi Zhu, assistant professor of international relations and international law, Leiden University