Death, Dignity and Discrimination: The Case of Pretty v. United Kingdom

[1] Diane Pretty died of natural causes on 11 May 2002 from motor neurone disease, a paralysing, degenerative and incurable illness. Her fight to choose the time and manner of her death assisted by her husband was a resounding legal failure. A unanimous body of judicial opinion in both the English Divisional Court and the House of Lords, (1) followed by the European Court of Human Rights, (2) denied that her rights under the European Convention on Human Rights had been infringed. Thus, the refusal of the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) to exempt Mrs. Pretty's husband from prosecution were he to undertake efforts to assist Mrs. Pretty in taking her own life was ultimately held to be lawful. (3) At the same time, the domestic legal prohibition on assisting suicide, found in Section 2.1 of the Suicide Act of 1961 was found to be in conformity with the Convention. (4)