• March 29, 2024
 Assisted dying campaigners crowdfund to cover costs

Assisted dying campaigners crowdfund to cover costs

Assisted dying campaigners are crowdfunding to help them cover the cost of judicial review applications.

Hoping to secure a declaration of incompatibility, two patients suffering from incurable illnesses are crowdfunding court applications in order to contest the blanket ban on assisted dying.

Beginning his campaign earlier in the year, Noel Conway is a former social sciences lecturer and is seeking to have the removed lifted for those suffering from a terminal illness and have a life expectancy of six months or less.

Known only as Omid, the other applicant is campaigning for the ban to be lifted on patients suffering from an incurable illness.

Using Crowdfunder, Conway has so far reached a total of £30,000, suggesting he is likely to meet his stretch target of £50,000 by the 7th of April. Omid is using Crowdjustice and is looking to raise around £10,000 to help him cover legal costs.

Suffering from motor neurone disease, Conway has a shortened life expectancy. In addition to the declaration of incompatibility, his application also includes a proposal for a legal framework which would enable assisted dying to be lawful.

Section 2(1) of the Suicide Act (SA) 1961 prohibits assisted suicide and voluntary euthanasia is considered murder under UK law. The judicial review Conway intends to bring will be against the Ministry of Justice, seeking a declaration under the Human Rights Act 1998 that the specific provision under the SA 1961 is incompatible with his rights under the European Convention on Human Rights.

Supported by Dignity in Dying, this would apply only in very specific circumstances; where the patient is mentally competent, they are suffering from a terminal illness, their life expectancy is six months or less, and the decision has been certified by a doctor.

The Nicklinson case in 2014 was the last time the Supreme Court were required to consider a similar application. Despite agreeing that they were able to rule on the matter the justices declined to find that UK law was incompatible with Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights.

As he is suffering from a terminal illness and his legal team have are also proposing strict safeguards, Conway’s case does differ.

Following the public support of Nicklinson’s case, it is unsurprising that Conway’s Crowdfunder page has been backed to such an extent.

Recent findings from Populus indicated that from a study of 5,000 British people, 82% believe assisted dying should be made legal.

Despite Parliament considering various assisted dying proposals in the past, there has since been no legal development, with the issue having not been addressed by the government.

In seeking the declaration and returning the matter to the courts, Conway and Omid are again asking for the blanket ban on assisted dying to be reconsidered.

Overseas, a similar case has played a key part in implementing new assisted dying legislation. A declaration from the Canadian Supreme Court following the 2015 case of Carter v Canada pushed the new Canadian Government to introduce the legislation the following year.

Georgia Owen

Georgia is the Senior Content Executive and will be your primary contact when submitting your latest news. While studying for an LLB at the University of Liverpool, Georgia gained experience working within retail, as well as social media management. She later went on to work for a local newspaper, before starting at Today’s Wills and Probate.