Assisted Suicide Legal Challenge

News James Strachan KC, Alex Ruck Keene KC (Hon), Benjamin Tankel, Annabel Lee 12th October 2017

The High Court has handed down judgment in R (Conway) v Secretary of State for Justice [2017] EWHC 2447 in which it rejected the latest legal challenge to the prohibition on assisted suicide. The claim was brought by Mr Conway, a 67 year old man with Motor Neurone Disease (“MND”). When he has six months or less to live, he wished to have the option to end his own life with assistance from a medical professional. He argued that the current blanket prohibition on assisted suicide was incompatible with his right to a private life under Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights. The Court concluded that the current ban was a necessary and proportionate interference with Mr Conway’s rights.

Alex Ruck Keene and Annabel Lee (led by Richard Gordon QC) represented the claimant Mr Conway.

James Strachan QC and Ben Tankel represented the defendant Secretary of State.

The judgment is available here in full.

For press coverage, see:

BBC
The Guardian
The Independent
Sky
The Telegraph
Channel 4
Evening Standard
The Times
ITV

Related Barristers

James Strachan KC

Alex Ruck Keene KC (Hon)

Benjamin Tankel

Annabel Lee