Following on from my evidence to the House of Lords Select Committee considering the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill (see here), I have recorded this which seeks to dig further into the complexities around capacity, decisions to end one’s own life, and the implications for the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill, in particular as regards the positive obligations imposed on the State by Article 2 ECHR.
The slides can be found here. For a ‘key themes’ guidance document from the European Court of Human Rights which does not feature in the video, but may be of use also, see “Articles 2 and 8 in End of Life Situations” here.
Self-evidently, this video contains discussions of the situations in which individuals choose to end their own life, so it is not likely to be an easy watch for many.
For more on how I (together other members of the Complex Life and Death Decisions group) suggest that Parliament can seek to respect the fundamental idea of decision-making ability in the TIA Bill, see here. For a webinar in which Professor Gareth Owen talks further about capacity in this context, and research showing the approach in other jurisdictions, see here.
