Case could become a landmark in Irish law

Court must rule on a woman’s appeal ‘to die with dignity’, writes Ann O’Loughlin

THE absolute ban on assisted suicide in Irish law breaches the rights of terminally ill people who have the necessary mental capacity to decide they wish to end their own lives but cannot do so without assistance, the High Court was told yesterday.

The ban, set out in Section 2.2 of the Criminal Law (Insanity) Act 1993 providing for a sentence of up to 14 years for those who assist in or help procure the suicide of another, also amounts to unequal treatment of disabled persons who, due to their disability, cannot take their own lives, it was argued.