My Lords, I was interested to note, subsequent to putting down this amendment, that it covers similar ground to Amendment 65, to which the noble Lord, Lord Carlile of Berriew, has just spoken. I should start by saying that my amendment is an addition to his Amendment 5. No one should assume from it any implication that I am dissatisfied with that amendment as far as it goes; I just took the view that it does not go far enough.
If noble Lords read my amendment, what will strike them is that I am suggesting that there should be a second written declaration, but I want to come to that at the very end because that is not the main motive for putting down this amendment. I read Amendment 5 a number of times with an intellectual itch that I could not quite resolve. There was something about it that I did not like, but I was not sure for some time what it was. I finally realised that it was the word “settled”. We use the word “settled” regularly in daily language, but it actually has two quite distinct meanings. It can be used to say that something is settled—I have thought about it, I have given it due consideration, and I have come to a view, so it is settled—but “settled” can also mean that a decision has been made from which there can be no variation, turning back or deviation. It was that second aspect that bothered me in terms of this Bill.
We all know examples of “settled” in everyday language. We probably all know a fellow and a girl who fell in love and announced their engagement, and it was all settled, and then one of them walked away before they got to the altar. I was just smart enough
not to say to my constituents in Peterborough, “We don’t need to bother you at this general election because you voted for me last time and the issue is settled”. I knew that they would respond by saying, “Actually, Brian, a number of things have changed since we settled it last time, so we want to settle it again”. Bless them, five further times, they settled it. Closer to home, Governments settle things all the time. We call them government policy announcements, and they are settled, until a U-turn occurs.
I hope it is not too wearisome to your Lordships’ House if I add my name to the list of those who recite examples of experiences when we served at the other end of the corridor, because I know of very few aspects of human experience and behaviour that teach you more about people than being a constituency MP. I remember the day when a lady came into my surgery. She did not really want any help from me. She had to tell somebody that she had decided to get a divorce. She wanted some advice as to how to go about it, but what she really wanted was to tell me that what had once been settled was not settled anymore. I advised her to get legal advice from a solicitor. I do not know what other colleagues did, but it was my custom never to recommend a particular solicitor. Some weeks later she came back in floods of tears—she was in floods of tears before she saw me. When she had calmed down, she said, “It’s terrible. We got to the point where there was only one step to go in the divorce process. I told my solicitor that he was not to go that last step without consulting me, but I have been told by him this morning that he went ahead and I am now divorced. I do not want to be divorced. I have changed my mind, but I am divorced. What can I do?” Something that was settled that became unsettled then became settled in an entirely different manner.
The use of the word “settled” in this Bill bothers me. I have no problem about the person involved going through the steps set out in the Bill and coming to a settled view. That is fine. However, time will pass between the achieving of that settled view and the use of the lethal injection or whatever the cause of death might be. What happens in that period? Are we as a legislative body making an assumption that nothing of any significance is going to happen in that period which might call into question the settled nature of the settlement? I do not think we should make that assumption. I think we ought to be quite specific that whatever may have been settled earlier needs to be reaffirmed on the eve of the decision being implemented. There needs to be an opportunity for a second and final thought as to the seriousness and finality of what is about to take place.
I come back to the second written declaration. I could not put down an amendment for your Lordships’ consideration which said that we ought to redefine “settlement”. That would have been seriously boring and nonsensical. I put down one way in which settlement could be affirmed or confirmed, and that is that a second written declaration had to be undertaken 24 hours before the final event. Other noble Lords who may agree with me may have a better way of confirming what settled means than the option I have chosen.