Description:
This is a briefing from the Complex Life and Death Decisions Group (CLADD) at Kings College, London. The authors have provided detailed analysis of the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill from a clinical, legal and ethical perspective. Their analysis relates to the Bill as it was considered by the House of Lords in September 2025 which is substantially identical to the Bill reintroduced in the Commons in June 2026.
The key conclusion of this group is that the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill is not good law as drafted. This is for a number of reasons including that it:
- Does not appropriately delineate the cohort to whom it is intended to apply;
- Applies a test for determining their ability to seek assistance which is not fit for its purpose;
- Is unclear as to whether the provision of assistance constitutes treatment for the wider purposes of the medical profession;
- Does not appropriately address the place of palliative care;
- Does not appropriately address the interaction between suicide prevention and assisted dying;
- Does not facilitate multi-disciplinary consideration of the multi-faceted question of the person’s eligibility until too late in the process;
- Provides for advocacy without clarity as to its scope, provision or purpose;
- Establishes an authorisation body – a Panel – which is both over- and under-protective;
- Does not adequately address the situation where a person experiences complications following the provision of assistance;
- Does not provide for appropriate monitoring.
The briefing addresses these points under the headings of: Eligibility; Capacity; Treatment; Service provision and compatibility with the NHS Act; Palliative care; Suicide prevention; Multi-disciplinary consideration; Advocates; The Panel; Complications; and Monitoring.
The Briefing also contains hyperlinks to other briefings by CLADD and should be read alongside the resources page managed by Prof. Ruck Keene on Mental Capacity Law and Policy. https://www.mentalcapacitylawandpolicy.org.uk/terminally-ill-adults-end-of-life-bill-resources-page/
The views presented in these documents are those of the authors and the Augustine Bioethics Network is not hereby endorsing these views. It is, rather, commending them as potentially useful and worthy of critical consideration.
Document as PDF and download
