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England and Wales High Court (Administrative Court) Decisions |
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You are here: BAILII >> Databases >> England and Wales High Court (Administrative Court) Decisions >> AM, R (on the application of) v The General Medical Council [2012] EWHC 470 (Admin) (27 January 2012) URL: http://www.bailii.org/ew/cases/EWHC/Admin/2012/470.html Cite as: [2012] EWHC 470 (Admin) |
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QUEEN'S BENCH DIVISION
DIVISIONAL COURT
Strand London WC2A 2LL |
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B e f o r e :
MR JUSTICE CHARLES
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THE QUEEN ON THE APPLICATION OF AM | Claimant | |
v | ||
THE DIRECTOR OF PUBLIC PROSECUTIONS | First Defendant | |
THE SOLICITORS REGULATION AUTHORITY | Second Defendant | |
THE GENERAL MEDICAL COUNCIL | Third Defendant |
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Mr J McGuinness QC (instructed by the Director of Public Prosecutions) appeared on behalf of the First Defendant
Mr T Dutton QC (instructed by the Solicitors Regulation Authority) appeared on behalf of the Second Defendant
Mr M Shaw QC (instructed by Bevan Brittan LLP) appeared on behalf of the Third Defendant
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Crown Copyright ©
"(1) A person ('D') commits an offence if —
(a) D does an act capable of encouraging or assisting the suicide or attempted suicide of another person, and
(b) D's act was intended to encourage or assist suicide or an attempt at suicide."
Section 2(4) provides that:
"No proceedings shall be instituted for an offence under the section except by or with the consent of the DPP."
Section 2A of the Act provides:
"If D arranges for a person ('D2') to do an act that is capable of encouraging or assisting the suicide or attempted suicide of another person and D2 does that act, D is also to be treated for the purposes of this Act as having done it."
"As, by reason of the complexity and difficulty of our law, litigation can only be conducted by professional men, it is absolutely necessary that a man, in order to prosecute his rights or to defend himself from an improper claim, should have recourse to the assistance of professional lawyers."
"There may be cases where any assistance or encouragement provided by D is so distanced in time, place or circumstances from the conduct of P that it would be unjust to regard P's act as done with D's encouragement or assistance."
"The steps we have in mind are:
(a) by Martin's lawyers, the carrying out of research, including communicating with others (including individuals and organisations who might be able to help Martin, and including the sending of documents about Martin to people), the preparation of witness statements, the instruction of experts, and all steps incidental to the making of a fully prepared court application that optimises Martin's chances of success;
(b) by any healthcare professionals instructed by Martin's lawyers, the accepting of and acting upon instructions to assess Martin, to advise him about the options open to him, and the writing of reports; and
(c) by healthcare professionals and services currently or previously involved in Martin's care, the provision of information, reports and copies of their records to Martin's lawyers."
"A question has been raised in correspondence as to whether the preparation entailed in this application to the DPP would in itself attract disciplinary action. My understanding is that you will be attending to those matters marked (a) at paragraph 26 of your letter in readiness for an application which is merely seeking clarification of the DPP on behalf of your client. I do not feel that seeking such clarification of the DPP policy would raise any public interest issue or concern as to misconduct and is unlikely to attract any disciplinary proceedings."