Citation

Curtice M, Field C. Psychiatrist 2010; 34(5): 187-190.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2010)

DOI

10.1192/pb.bp.108.024059

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

Assisted suicide is an emotive issue that will undoubtedly continue to grab media headlines, especially as medical science is able to prolong survival in chronic medical disorders. The law in the UK as applied under the Suicide Act 1961 is currently very sympathetic to cases of assisted suicide, whereby the individual has travelled abroad to a country where it is lawful to end their life, in that people assisting them and thus committing an offence have not been prosecuted. This article analyses a recent High Court case pertaining to the Suicide Act 1961 demonstrating the central importance of the Human Rights Act 1998 in such cases. It then discusses implications for clinicians and the future of the Suicide Act itself.

Language: en

Keywords

human rights; United Kingdom; assisted suicide; article; physician; court