Result due in right-to-die case 英国安乐死事件,结果待定
文章来源:未知 文章作者:meng 发布时间:2009-07-30 07:10 字体: [ ]  进入论坛
(单词翻译:双击或拖选)

A woman with multiple sclerosis is due to find out whether the Law Lords have backed her bid to clarify the law on assisted suicide.

一位患多发性硬化病的妇女希望找出上议院高级法官是否收回她澄清辅助自杀的请求。

Debbie Purdy is concerned her husband could be <a href=prosecuted1" width="226" border="0" src="/upimg/090730/4_071118_1.jpg" />
Debbie Purdy is concerned her husband could be prosecuted

Debbie Purdy, 46, from Bradford, is considering going to Switzerland to end her life, but fears her husband may be charged on his return to the UK.

She wants an assurance her husband, Omar Puente, will not be prosecuted.

Although no-one has been prosecuted in such circumstances, they could potentially face 14 years in prison.

Losing strength

And the Director of Public Prosecutions3 (DPP) has said it would not be possible to give a guarantee of immunity4(免疫,免除) from legal action.

Ms Purdy has already lost challenges in the High Court and Court of Appeal, and the Lords ruling represents her last chance of success in the UK legal system.

If that ruling goes against her, her only option will be to take her case to the European Court of Human Rights.

Ms Purdy was diagnosed with primary progressive MS in March 1995. She can no longer walk and is gradually losing strength in her upper body.

She has suggested that at some point she may travel to Switzerland to take a lethal5 dose of barbiturates(巴比妥酸) prescribed by doctors at the controversial Dignitas organisation6.

More than 100 UK citizens have so far ended their lives at Dignitas, and no-one who has accompanied them has ever been prosecuted on their return to the UK.

However, the reasons why legal action has never been taken have never been made clear.

And Ms Purdy, who wants her husband to be at her side when she dies, wants to be confident he will not be arrested upon his return.

Impossible dilemma7

She said that without that assurance she faces an "impossible dilemma" over what to do.

Her legal team said that if the law was not clarified she would have to end her life earlier than she wanted to.

But if the risk of prosecution2 was sufficiently8 low, she would be able to wait until the last moment before travelling to Switzerland with her husband's assistance.

Lord Pannick QC, who is representing Ms Purdy, said: "It is ironic9 that the policy designed to protect the sanctity(神圣,尊严) of life will have the effect of shortening the life of terminally ill persons such as Ms Purdy."

An attempt to amend10 the Coroners and Justice Bill to lift the threat of prosecution facing those who help somebody kill themselves overseas was rejected last month.

In 2001 Diane Pretty, who had motor neurone disease(运动神经疾病), failed to get immunity from prosecution for her husband if he helped her to die in the UK.

Several attempts to legalise suicide in Britain have also been rejected.

The issue has been further highlighted this week by an admission by former GP Dr Michael Irwin, of Cranleigh, Surrey, that he provided financial assistance for a terminally ill cancer patient to travel to Dignitas.

Dr Irwin, a long-standing euthanasia(安乐死) campaigner, challenged police to arrest him after revealing(有启迪作用的) that he had written a cheque for £1,500 towards the cost of 58-year-old Raymond Cutkelvin's assisted suicide in 2007.



点击收听单词发音收听单词发音  

1 prosecuted Wk5zqY     
a.被起诉的
参考例句:
  • The editors are being prosecuted for obscenity. 编辑因刊载污秽文字而被起诉。
  • The company was prosecuted for breaching the Health and Safety Act. 这家公司被控违反《卫生安全条例》。
2 prosecution uBWyL     
n.起诉,告发,检举,执行,经营
参考例句:
  • The Smiths brought a prosecution against the organizers.史密斯家对组织者们提出起诉。
  • He attempts to rebut the assertion made by the prosecution witness.他试图反驳原告方证人所作的断言。
3 prosecutions 51e124aef1b1fecefcea6048bf8b0d2d     
起诉( prosecution的名词复数 ); 原告; 实施; 从事
参考例句:
  • It is the duty of the Attorney-General to institute prosecutions. 检察总长负责提起公诉。
  • Since World War II, the government has been active in its antitrust prosecutions. 第二次世界大战以来,政府积极地进行着反对托拉斯的检举活动。 来自英汉非文学 - 政府文件
4 immunity dygyQ     
n.优惠;免除;豁免,豁免权
参考例句:
  • The law gives public schools immunity from taxation.法律免除公立学校的纳税义务。
  • He claims diplomatic immunity to avoid being arrested.他要求外交豁免以便避免被捕。
5 lethal D3LyB     
adj.致死的;毁灭性的
参考例句:
  • A hammer can be a lethal weapon.铁锤可以是致命的武器。
  • She took a lethal amount of poison and died.她服了致命剂量的毒药死了。
6 organisation organisation     
n.组织,安排,团体,有机休
参考例句:
  • The method of his organisation work is worth commending.他的组织工作的方法值得称道。
  • His application for membership of the organisation was rejected.他想要加入该组织的申请遭到了拒绝。
7 dilemma Vlzzf     
n.困境,进退两难的局面
参考例句:
  • I am on the horns of a dilemma about the matter.这件事使我进退两难。
  • He was thrown into a dilemma.他陷入困境。
8 sufficiently 0htzMB     
adv.足够地,充分地
参考例句:
  • It turned out he had not insured the house sufficiently.原来他没有给房屋投足保险。
  • The new policy was sufficiently elastic to accommodate both views.新政策充分灵活地适用两种观点。
9 ironic 1atzm     
adj.讽刺的,有讽刺意味的,出乎意料的
参考例句:
  • That is a summary and ironic end.那是一个具有概括性和讽刺意味的结局。
  • People used to call me Mr Popularity at high school,but they were being ironic.人们中学时常把我称作“万人迷先生”,但他们是在挖苦我。
10 amend exezY     
vt.修改,修订,改进;n.[pl.]赔罪,赔偿
参考例句:
  • The teacher advised him to amend his way of living.老师劝他改变生活方式。
  • You must amend your pronunciation.你必须改正你的发音。
TAG标签: law suicide euthanasia
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