Supreme Court of Canada has held that criminal prohibition on physician- assisted mercy killing is void

Supreme Court of Canada: In a landmark decision terminating the grief of countless persons who have been rendered helpless due to their irremediable maladies and have been seeking mercy killing assisted by a doctor, the Court declared that the criminal prohibition on physician- assisted mercy killing is void as it deprives the competent adult the assistance where the aggrieved clearly consents to terminate his/her life and where the person has a grievous and irremediable medical condition that causes enduring suffering that is intolerable to the individual in the circumstances of his/her condition. With this decision the Court also overruled its own earlier decision in Rodriguez v. British Columbia [1993] 3 SCR 519, where it prohibited physician assisted dying under S. 241(b) of the Criminal Code, RSC 1985, c. C-46 (abetment to suicide) as it did not violate Section 7 of Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

As per the background facts of the present case post imposing a ban via Rodriguez case, the issue was in constant debate in the House of Commons where as many as six private Bills were introduced seeking to decriminalize doctor assisted dying. Several reports suggested reforms by amending the Criminal Code to legalize assisted dying. The issue got further impetus when Gloria Taylor was diagnosed with a fatal amyotrophic lateral sclerosis challenged the constitutionality of Sections 14, 21, 22, 222 and 241 of the Criminal Code before British Columbia Supreme Court desiring to have a dignified death. The Court observed several statements by the witnesses who appealed that physician assisted death better than choosing the path of committing suicide to end their trauma. Meanwhile Canada contended that the trial court made an error in concluding that safeguards would minimize the risks associated with assisted dying.

The Bench of McLachlin, Beverley, LeBel JJ., observed that the core constituents of the challenge are Sections 241 and 14 of the Criminal Code criminalizing abetment to suicide and giving consent to death respectively. It was further observed that in order to show the violation of Section 7 of the Canadian Charter it is necessary to show that law interferes or deprives them of their life, liberty or security of a person and that the deprivation is not according to the principles of fundamental justice and in the present case the impugned sections of the Criminal Code deprives individuals suffering from irremediable diseases of their right to life, liberty and security of the person as Section 7 not only recognizes the value of life, but it also honours the role that autonomy and dignity play at the end of that life. The Court however did not make any pronouncement on other situations where doctor assisted dying can be sought. [Carter v.Canada, 2015 SCC 5, decided on 06.02.2015]

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