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This seminar is being held in advance of the Second Reading of a new private members Bill on Assisted Dying Bill which is due to be debated In Parliament on 29 November 2024.
We will hear from Fiona Scolding KC on the landscape of assisted dying laws in the UK and across the world and from David Lock KC about some of the ethical considerations involved in assisted dying and how the consent model works in inter vivos organ donation cases.
Lord Mance will then discuss the complex issues which arise in relation to assisted dying in conversation with Alex Goodman KC. Lord Mance gave a seminal judgment on these issues in Tony Nicklinson’s case and spoke in the House of Lords on the last Assisted Dying Bill. There will also be questions and answers.
About the Speakers:
Lord Mance was appointed to the House of Lords in 2005 where he spent four years as a Law Lord before becoming a Justice of the Supreme Court on its formation in 2009 and its Deputy President in 2017-2018. In giving judgment in the majority in R (Nicklinson) v Ministry of Justice [2015] 1 AC 657 he held that assisted dying was a matter for parliament, rather than judges, to decide. In 2021 he spoke in the House of Lords in favour of Baroness Meacher’s Assisted Dying Bill.
David Lock KC was Public Law Silk of the Year 2020. He formerly served as a Member of Parliament and a legal Minister. He served for 10 years as an expert member of the British Medical Association Ethics Committee and is currently a non-executive member of the Human Tissue Authority. He now sits part time as a Deputy High Court Judge in the King’s Bench and Family Divisions. He is joint editor of NHS Law and Practice (2024).
Fiona Scolding KC has spent much of her time in silk involved in public inquiries under the Inquiries Act 2005 including the Covid Inquiry, the Shrewsbury and NHS Trust inquiry, Independent Inquiry for Child Sexual Abuse; and the Infected Blood Inquiry.
Alex Goodman KC is joint head of Landmark Chambers’ Administrative and Public Law Team. Recent cases include R (ASY) v SSHD [2024] EWCA Civ 373 concerning inhuman and degrading treatment from destitution, and the Brook House Inquiry concerning article 3 violations against immigration detainees. He is co-author of a text book on human rights to be published next year.
