MPs dismiss senior judge approval for assisted dying

The requirement for a High Court judge to approve assisted dying applications has been scrapped by MPs.

- HOLLY BANCROFT

A committee scrutinising the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill voted yesterday to remove a clause which had been touted as the reason the proposed legislation for England and Wales would be the strictest in the world.

Anti-assisted dying campaigners said the move was a “grave weakening of the bill”, but those in favour called it a “welcome step forward”.

When introduced to parliament last year, the bill proposed that terminally ill adults with less than six months to live should be legally allowed to end their lives, subject to approval by two doctors and a High Court judge.

Yesterday, a majority of MPs on the 23-member scrutiny committee voted to remove the court-approval clause.

Kim Leadbeater, the MP behind the bill, has proposed to instead establish a voluntary assisted dying commissioner – a judge or former judge – to oversee the process and expert panels featuring a senior legal figure, a psychiatrist and a social worker who would decide on assisted dying applications.