An article in the SOLICITORS JOURNAL provides information about a new court case, started by Noel Conway and his lawyers, to look again at introducing assisted dying laws for England and Wales.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Two important ECHR judgments omitted<\/strong> Furthermore, the article does not mention another important case which is relevant in this context: ARTICO v. Italy (judgment of 13 May 1980, series A no. 37, no. 6694\/74). This judgment set the base for the so-called ARTICO jurisdiction, when the Court pointed out: \u201cThe Court recalls that the Convention is intended to guarantee not rights that are theoretical or illusory but rights that are practical and effective;…\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This good article omits any reference to a much more important case: the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) judgement in the case of HAAS v. Switzerland, application no. 31322\/07, dated 20 January 2011. In this case, initiated and supported by the Swiss non-profit members society DIGNITAS \u2013 To live with dignity \u2013 To die with dignity, the Court acknowledged: \u201cIn the light of this jurisdiction, the Court finds that the right of an individual to decide how and when to end his life, provided that said individual was in a position to make up his own mind in that respect and to take the appropriate action, was one aspect of the right to respect for private life under Article 8 of the Convention\u201d. In this, the Court, for the first time, confirmed that people do have a right or freedom to decide on their own end of life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n