Court signoff in assisted dying bill to be scrapped

MPs are set to scrap the requirement for a high court judge to decide on assisted dying cases amid growing concerns over the legislation, with an expert panel to scrutinise decisions instead.

- Jessica Elgot

Kim Leadbeater, the Labour MP sponsoring the bill, will argue that the change adds significantly more scrutiny from experts better placed to spot those under family pressure to end their lives - and that there will be judicial oversight of the panels.

But the removal of the mandatory high court involvement in every assisted dying case is likely to cause concern among MPs who had been reassured that the safeguards brought in by any new legislation would be uniquely robust.

Leadbeater will say the new system still offers the strongest protections compared with any other country that has legalised assisted dying.

The sign-off from a high court judge, as well as two doctors, formed the centrepiece of the original legislation. But in an amendment to be submitted by Leadbeater today, that sign-off would be replaced by an expert panel of three, including a senior lawyer such as a king's counsel or retired judge, a psychiatrist and a social worker.

Leadbeater, who had previously vowed she would not remove the "judicial element" from the bill, will propose that a judge-led commission oversees the panels alongside a right to have a panel's decision reviewed by the high court. She has called the change "judge plus".

The Guardian reported last week that MPs scrutinising the bill believe a considerable number of MPs are wavering on what they will do in the final vote, which is expected to take place on 25 April.

Senior officials in the Ministry of Justice were understood to have had concerns about the sign-off from a high court judge in the bill, given lengthy backlogs in the family courts.

Two senior judges who gave evidence to MPs on the bill committee have derided the high court element as unnecessary and unworkable.