State to pay most legal costs in right to die case

The State has agreed to orders that it will pay most of the substantial legal costs of the unsuccessful challenge by Marie Fleming to the law making it an offence to assist a suicide.

The 59-year-old from Wicklow died last month eight months after losing her landmark right-to-die case.

Yesterday the Supreme Court agreed to an application by her counsel not to formally draw up the costs orders until her estate has been constituted.

Earlier, on the application of Ronan Murphy, for Ms Fleming, and with the consent of Shane Murphy, for the State, the court agreed to affirm a High Court order awarding Ms Fleming costs against the State of the High Court hearing.

The court also agreed to make another order awarding Ms Fleming half of the costs of her Supreme Court appeal against the State.

In submissions, lawyers for Ms Fleming had asked the court to exercise its exceptional jurisdiction to make an order for costs in favour of Ms Fleming.

When she initiated her court action, she was in the final stages of multiple sclerosis. She sought orders permitting her to be lawfully assisted to have a peaceful and dignified death at a time of her choice without the risk of prosecution for anyone who helped her.

The High Court rejected her case in Jan 2013 after which she appealed to the Supreme Court against the findings the blanket ban on assisted suicide set out in section 2.2 of the Criminal Law (Suicide) Act 1993 did not breach her rights under the Constitution and European Convention on Human Rights.

Last April, the Supreme Court ruled the right to life under the Constitution “does not import a right to die” in what it described as this “very tragic case”.

There was “no explicit right” in the Constitution to either take one’s life or determine the time of one’s own death that the State and courts must protect and vindicate, the chief justice, Ms Justice Susan Denham said.