Fleming awaits judgment on right-to-die appeal

A seven-judge Supreme Court will give judgment at a later date on the appeal by terminally ill Marie Fleming against the rejection of her challenge to the blanket ban on assisted suicide.

The case is urgent but raises “complex and important constitutional issues” and the court would reserve judgment to be delivered as soon as possible, Chief Justice Mrs Justice Susan Denham said at the close of the four-day appeal yesterday.

In closing submissions for Ms Fleming, Ronan Murphy SC said the case raised issues about the role of morality in the law and the State is not entitled to “contest the value” Ms Fleming places on her own life.

The right to life under the Constitution “belongs to the person living the life concerned” and is not a right shared by the State, he said. The right to life must be addressed in that way, not on “some broad platform related to the sanctity of life”.

Key obligation

The theme in the State’s arguments was that life must be taken as having an “intrinsic and separate” value but that was profoundly different from the case being advanced by Ms Fleming, Mr Murphy said.

He was not saying the State has no interest in the right to life, rather its “key obligation” was to protect that right against interference by others, not against interference by the person themselves. There was also no evidence that permitting a regulated regime of assisted suicide would create a real risk of involuntary deaths of vulnerable people, he said. While accepting there was a fear involuntary deaths might result, the conclusion such a risk was real was what his side objected to.

In reply to questions from Mr Justice Donal O’Donnell, counsel agreed a right to euthanasia might follow on from arguments Ms Fleming has a right to die with dignity but said the Oireachtas could restrict a right to assisted suicide as it considered that appropriate and could introduce appropriate safeguards.

Earlier, during closing arguments for the State and Attorney General, Shane Murphy SC was asked by Mr Justice Frank Clarke about the State’s view of the High Court’s “thinly veiled” hope the DPP would adopt a “humane” approach to Ms Fleming’s situation.

Assisted suicide offence

Mr Murphy said those remarks did not alter the fact the High Court had upheld the criminality of the offence of assisted suicide. The High Court ruled the absolute ban was a justified and proportionate measure and it remained “a free-standing criminal offence”, he said. The DPP retains the discretion on whether to prosecute any such offence but had also told the High Court she could not issue offence-specific guidelines indicating in what circumstances any such prosecution might be taken, he added.

Ms Fleming (59), living in Co Wicklow, is in the final stages of multiple sclerosis and wants orders which would allow her be lawfully assisted in fulfilling her wish of taking her own life at a time of her choice.

Ms Fleming did not attend the appeal hearing. Her partner Tom Curran attended.