Multiple sclerosis patient succeeds in arguing that it is a breach of her human rights not to know whether her husband will be prosecuted if he accompanies her to Swiss clinic Dignitas
Afua Hirsch guardian.co.uk,
Debbie Purdy, 45, who has primary progressive multiple sclerosis, with husband, Omar Puente. Photograph: Alessia Pierdomenico/Reuters
Debbie Purdy has won a significant legal victory in the House of Lords which lawyers are describing as a turning point for the law on assisted suicide.
Purdy, 46, from Bradford, West Yorkshire, who has primary progressive multiple sclerosis, succeeded in arguing that it is a breach of her human rights not to know whether her husband, Cuban jazz violinist Omar Puente, will be prosecuted if he accompanies her to Swiss clinic Dignitas where she wishes to die if her condition worsens.
The decision – the last ever by the law lords before they recommence work as justices of the new supreme court in October – went further than expected in Purdy’s favour, lawyers say.
Ordering the director of public prosecutions to issue a policy setting out when those in Puente’s position can expect to face prosecution, the court ruled that the current lack of clarity is a violation of the right to a private and family life.
“It’s a complete victory,” said Saimo Chahal, partner at Bindmans who represented Purdy. “I always knew we would have to go to the House of Lords to get a judgment that was reasoned and considered.”
Purdy’s two previous attempts to request a policy from prosecutors failed after the courts said the current situation was lawful.
Despite at least 115 British people already known to have travelled abroad for an assisted suicide, with an average of two a month since 2002 and despite scores of police investigations, not a single family member has been prosecuted.
A report last month from campaign group Dignity in Dying, which has supported Purdy’s case, warned that a further 34 Britons were in the final stages of travelling abroad for the same purpose.
Earlier this month renowned British conductor Sir Edward Downes, 85, and his wife Joan, 74, joined those who have ended their lives at Dignitas. Their death, watched by their children Caractacus, 41, and Boudicca, 39, is still the subject of a police investigation.
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