A tribunal to provide sympathetic and speedy consideration for terminally-ill patients who wish to end their lives has been proposed by a British legal expert.
Claudia Carr, of the University of Hertfordshire, told the first Global Conference on Suicide, Self-Harm and Assisted Dying in Athens this week, that a tribunal would ensure that the patient is not being unduly pressurised and the person who will assist had nothing to gain.
Surprisingly for a supporter of assisted suicide, she acknowledged that the notion of "slippery slope", which is often ridiculed by supporters of voluntary euthanasia and assisted suicide, is real.
"The underlying fear of the slippery slope and the effect that legalising assisted suicide would have on the elderly and vulnerable is a justifiable one; however, the terminally-ill patient's autonomy should also be respected. It is right to protect the vulnerable and the disabled who could be influenced or pressurised to end their life for fear of being a burden on others."