My Lords, I congratulate the noble and learned Lord, Lord Falconer, on steering his Bill to a stage that no previous Bill on this difficult and controversial issue has reached. I know he will have listened very carefully to all contributions from your Lordships and that he will respond carefully to this amendment and to the others that will be debated here today. The number of amendments tabled is testament to the careful scrutiny of legislation that is characteristic of this House. The debate on this Bill at Second Reading was much admired outside the House, as well as within it, of course. The respect that was shown by those with very different views was remarkable for its lack of rancour. That has been echoed today and I am sure it will continue to be the case throughout the debate, whenever it concludes.
It may be helpful, in order to save time later—and perhaps your Lordships’ patience for listening to me—if I make some more general remarks while addressing
this group of amendments. As I said at Second Reading, the Government believe that any change to the law in this sensitive area is an issue of individual conscience and a matter for Parliament to decide rather than one for government policy. It follows that the Government will take a neutral position in today’s debate and that these Benches will have a free vote should the House divide.
Inevitably, the extent to which I may usefully contribute to the debate is limited from a position of neutrality. It is for the noble and learned Lord, Lord Falconer, to respond to the amendments moved, and to respond as appropriate on whether the clause should stand part of the Bill. My role, as I see it, is to assist the Committee in any way that I can without compromising the Government’s position, and to draw the attention of the Committee to any discrepancy that I might identify at this stage between the intended purpose and actual effect of any amendment.
Noon
I hope that these introductory remarks will assist the Committee. I do not propose to rehearse the Government’s position each time I speak to an amendment or group of amendments, so your Lordships may be pleased to learn that my subsequent contributions may, necessarily, be short.
That said, I turn to the amendments proposed by the noble Lords, Lord Pannick and Lord Carlile of Berriew, which, essentially, have the same purpose: namely to make the provision of assistance to a terminally ill person who wishes to end his or her own life subject to the consent of the Family Division of the High Court, although there are significant differences in the approaches which they suggest. It should be recorded that by no means all your Lordships feel that the courts should be involved in the process.
Your Lordships may, however, feel that there is something to be said for the approach advocated by the noble Lords. A number of the judgments of the Justices of the Supreme Court in Nicklinson thought so. The Family Division of the High Court is accustomed to dealing with such sensitive life-and-death decisions and would be well placed to take on the role that these amendments envisage. I cannot, of course, predict what demand there might be from the Family Court in the event that the Bill became law. Its record and experience of dealing with these difficult decisions, and dealing with them at speed, is a matter about which I think the House would be reassured, but I feel that I can say no more than that the courts have shown themselves equal to not identical but similar challenges in the past.
On the question that I was asked by the noble Lord, Lord Hunt, regarding financial provision, he will understand that it would be inappropriate for me to comment from the Dispatch Box about a scenario that does not currently exist. He will be aware that the LASPO Act retained an exceptional cases provision which deals with questions of the Human Rights Act and the convention requirements. I am sure that that matter will be considered by all noble Lords. That is as far as I can go on the question of legal support, but I think that the House and the Government will be very
much aware of the concern that finance should not be a matter that stands in the way of any provision which your Lordships should approve.
As the Supreme Court has recognised, there is a diversity of opinion about the degree of risk involved in relaxing the law in this area but not about the existence of the risk. It is unlikely that the risk of vulnerable people feeling pressure to end their lives can ever be wholly eliminated, but requiring a judge of the High Court to be satisfied that a terminally person’s wish to die is voluntary, clear, settled and informed may perhaps help to reduce the risk to an acceptable level.
I am sure that the noble and learned Lord, Lord Falconer, will have his own view on that. In keeping with the Government’s position, I offer no view but simply leave it to your Lordships’ House.