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Pretty V. United Kingdom
''Pretty v. United Kingdom'' (2346/02) was a case decided by European Court of Human Rights in 2002. Facts Diane Pretty was suffering from motor neurone disease and was paralysed from the neck down, had little decipherable speech and was fed by a tube. It is not a crime to kill oneself under English law, but the applicant was prevented by her disease from taking such a step without assistance. It is however a crime to assist another to kill themselves (section 2(1) of the Suicide Act 1961). Pretty wanted her husband to provide her with assistance in suicide. Because giving this assistance would expose the husband to liability, the Director of Public Prosecutions was asked to agree not to prosecute her husband. This request was refused, as was Pretty's appeal before the Law Lords. Judgment In a unanimous judgment, the Court, composed of seven judges, found Pretty's application under articles 2, 3, 8, 9 and 14 of the European Convention on Human Rights admissible, but found no v ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
European Court Of Human Rights
The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR or ECtHR), also known as the Strasbourg Court, is an international court of the Council of Europe which interprets the European Convention on Human Rights. The court hears applications alleging that a contracting state has breached one or more of the human rights enumerated in the Convention or its optional protocols to which a member state is a party. The European Convention on Human Rights is also referred to by the initials "ECHR". The court is based in Strasbourg, France. An application can be lodged by an individual, a group of individuals, or one or more of the other contracting states. Aside from judgments, the court can also issue advisory opinions. The convention was adopted within the context of the Council of Europe, and all of its 46 member states are contracting parties to the convention. Russia, having been expelled from the Council of Europe as of 16 March 2022, ceased to be a party to the convention with effect from 1 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Diane Pretty
Diane Pretty (15 November 1958 – 11 May 2002) was a British woman from Luton who was the focus of a debate about the laws of euthanasia in the United Kingdom during the early part of the 21st century. She had attempted to change British law so she could end her own life because of the pains and problems that she endured because of her terminal illness motor neurone disease. She said "I want to have a quick death without suffering, at home surrounded by my family". Pretty had been diagnosed with motor neurone disease several years before. Over time, the disease worsened and made it impossible for her to move or communicate easily even though her mental faculties remained normal. The illness resulted in her having to be looked after round the clock by her husband and nurses, meaning that she could not commit suicide, which she had said she would do if she was able to. She stated a wish that her husband should be able to assist her in ending her life, but this is classed as assisted ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Motor Neurone Disease
Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), also known as motor neuron disease (MND) or Lou Gehrig's disease, is a neurodegenerative disease that results in the progressive loss of motor neurons that control voluntary muscles. ALS is the most common type of motor neuron diseases. Early symptoms of ALS include stiff muscles, muscle twitches, and gradual increasing weakness and muscle wasting. ''Limb-onset ALS'' begins with weakness in the arms or legs, while ''bulbar-onset ALS'' begins with difficulty speaking or swallowing. Half of the people with ALS develop at least mild difficulties with thinking and behavior, and about 15% develop frontotemporal dementia. Most people experience pain. The affected muscles are responsible for chewing food, speaking, and walking. Motor neuron loss continues until the ability to eat, speak, move, and finally the ability to breathe is lost. ALS eventually causes paralysis and early death, usually from respiratory failure. Most cases of ALS (abo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
English Law
English law is the common law legal system of England and Wales, comprising mainly criminal law and civil law, each branch having its own courts and procedures. Principal elements of English law Although the common law has, historically, been the foundation and prime source of English law, the most authoritative law is statutory legislation, which comprises Acts of Parliament, regulations and by-laws. In the absence of any statutory law, the common law with its principle of '' stare decisis'' forms the residual source of law, based on judicial decisions, custom, and usage. Common law is made by sitting judges who apply both statutory law and established principles which are derived from the reasoning from earlier decisions. Equity is the other historic source of judge-made law. Common law can be amended or repealed by Parliament. Not being a civil law system, it has no comprehensive codification. However, most of its criminal law has been codified from its common la ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Assisted Suicide
Assisted suicide is suicide undertaken with the aid of another person. The term usually refers to physician-assisted suicide (PAS), which is suicide that is assisted by a physician or other healthcare provider. Once it is determined that the person's situation qualifies under the physician-assisted suicide laws for that place, the physician's assistance is usually limited to writing a prescription for a lethal dose of drugs. In many jurisdictions, helping a person die by suicide is a crime. People who support legalizing physician-assisted suicide want the people who assist in a voluntary death to be exempt from criminal prosecution for manslaughter or similar crimes. Physician-assisted suicide is legal in some countries, under certain circumstances, including Austria, Belgium, Canada, Germany, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Spain, Switzerland, parts of the United States and all six states of Australia. The constitutional courts of Colombia, Germany and Italy legali ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Suicide Act 1961
The Suicide Act 1961 (9 & 10 Eliz 2 c 60) is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It decriminalised the act of suicide in England and Wales so that those who failed in the attempt to kill themselves would no longer be prosecuted. The text of sections 1 and 2 of this Act was enacted verbatim for Northern Ireland by sections 12 and 13 of the Criminal Justice Act (Northern Ireland) 1966. The Act did not apply to Scotland, as suicide was never an offence under Scots Law. Assisting a suicide in Scotland can in some circumstances constitute murder or culpable homicide, but no modern examples of cases devoid of ''direct'' application of intentional or unintentional harm (such as helping a person to inject themselves) seem to be available; it was noted in a consultation preceding the introduction of the Assisted Suicide (Scotland) Bill that "the law appears to be subject to some uncertainty, partly because of a lack of relevant case law". Analysis Suicide is defined as the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Director Of Public Prosecutions (England And Wales)
The Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) is the head of the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) and the third most senior public prosecutor in England and Wales, ranking after the attorney general and solicitor general. First created in 1879, the office was merged with that of the Treasury Solicitor five years later, before again becoming independent in 1908. The director's department and role underwent modernisation from 1944 to 1964 under Sir Theobald Mathew QC, and further expansion with the introduction of the CPS in 1985, which came under the authority of the director. Today, the incumbent bears personal responsibility for 7,000 CPS staff and the approximately 800,000 prosecutions undertaken by it every year. The director reports to the attorney general, who answers for the CPS in Parliament and makes appointments to the position, in the case of vacancy, on the recommendation of panels that include the Civil Service Commission. The current director is Max Hill KC. History ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Law Lords
Lords of Appeal in Ordinary, commonly known as Law Lords, were judges appointed under the Appellate Jurisdiction Act 1876 to the British House of Lords, as a committee of the House, effectively to exercise the judicial functions of the House of Lords, which included acting as the highest appellate court for most domestic matters. The House of Lords lost its judicial functions upon the establishment of the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom in October 2009. Lords of Appeal in Ordinary then in office automatically became Justices of the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom, and those Supreme Court justices who already held seats in the House of Lords lost their right to speak and vote there until after retirement as Justices of the new court. Background The House of Lords historically had jurisdiction to hear appeals from the lower courts. Theoretically, the appeals were to the King (or Queen) in Parliament, but the House of Commons did not participate in judicial matters. The ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
European Convention On Human Rights
The European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR; formally the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms) is an international convention to protect human rights and political freedoms in Europe. Drafted in 1950 by the then newly formed Council of Europe,The Council of Europe should not be confused with the Council of the European Union or the European Council. the convention entered into force on 3 September 1953. All Council of Europe member states are party to the Convention and new members are expected to ratify the convention at the earliest opportunity. The Convention established the European Court of Human Rights (generally referred to by the initials ECHR). Any person who feels their rights have been violated under the Convention by a state party can take a case to the Court. Judgments finding violations are binding on the States concerned and they are obliged to execute them. The Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe monitors the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Necessary In A Democratic Society
__NOTOC__ "Necessary in a democratic society" is a test found in Articles 8–11 of the European Convention on Human Rights, which provides that the state may impose restrictions of these rights only if such restrictions are "necessary in a democratic society" and proportional to the legitimate aims enumerated in each article. According to the Council of Europe's handbook on the subject, the phrase is "arguably one of the most important clauses in the entire Convention". Indeed, the Court has itself written that "the concept of a democratic society... prevails throughout the Convention". The purpose of making such claims justiciable is to ensure that the restriction is actually necessary, rather than enacted for political expediency, which is not allowed. Articles 8–11 of the convention are those that protect right to family life, freedom of religion, freedom of speech, and freedom of association respectively. Along with the other tests which are applied to these articles, the res ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Article 2 Of The European Convention On Human Rights
Article 2 of the European Convention on Human Rights protects the right to life. The article contains a limited exception for the cases of lawful executions and sets out strictly controlled circumstances in which the deprivation of life may be justified. The exemption for the case of lawful executions has been subsequently further restricted by Protocols 6 (restriction of the death penalty to war time) and 13 (abolition of the death penalty), for those parties who are also parties to those protocols. The European Court of Human Rights has commented that "Article 2 ranks as one of the most fundamental provisions in the Convention". The obligations on a State under Article 2 consist of three principal aspects: the duty to refrain from unlawful deprivation of life; the duty to investigate suspicious deaths; and in certain circumstances, a positive obligation to take steps to prevent avoidable losses of life. Deprivation of life The first, and most obvious obligation under article ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Article 3 Of The European Convention On Human Rights
Article 3 of the European Convention on Human Rights prohibits torture, and "inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment". An absolute right Article 3 is an absolute right. The right is unqualified and cannot be balanced against the rights and needs of other people or the greater public interest. Article 15(2) of the European Convention on Human Rights makes no provision for derogation from Article 3, even in times of war or other public emergency threatening the life of the nation. Positive obligation There is a positive obligation on states to take action to ensure that individuals are protected from torture, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment. In the case of ''A v UK 998' the law in the United Kingdom on lawful chastisement of children was held to breach Article 3. The European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) believed that the current law provided inadequate protection to children suffering from different types of degrading punishment. As a result, the UK amende ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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