Systems of Justice: Noel Conway vs State on Assisted Suicide Case

This essay delves into the complex legal and moral issues surrounding the Noel Conway case, where Mr. Conway, suffering from Motor Neurone Disease, sought the right to assisted suicide. The analysis explores the conflict between individual autonomy and the state's interest in preserving life, examining the court's interpretation of relevant laws and the potential societal implications of allowing assisted suicide. The essay also discusses the moral dilemmas faced by the court, balancing the right to a dignified death with concerns about the vulnerability of individuals and the potential for abuse. Ultimately, the essay scrutinizes the court's decision, questioning whether it adequately considered Mr. Conway's suffering and his desire to maintain control over his final moments, while also acknowledging the broader societal considerations that influenced the judgment. Desklib provides access to similar essays and study tools for students.

Running head: NOEL CONWAY VS THE STATE ON ASSISTED SUICIDE
NOEL CONWAY VS THE STATE ON ASSISTED SUICIDE
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

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NOEL CONWAY VS THE STATE ON ASSISTED SUICIDE
Table of Contents
Part 1................................................................................................................................................2
Answer 1......................................................................................................................................2
Answer 2......................................................................................................................................3
Answer 3......................................................................................................................................5
Part II...............................................................................................................................................6
Answer 1......................................................................................................................................6
Answer 2......................................................................................................................................7
Answer 3......................................................................................................................................9
Reference list:................................................................................................................................11

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NOEL CONWAY VS THE STATE ON ASSISTED SUICIDE
Part 1
Answer 1
Euthanasia, assisted suicide, mercy killing are all terms to explain the same case. People
who are in a medical state where they are unable their cure is not possible they may ask for the
mercy killing1. This is where he or she shall be assisted to die with the consent of the court. This
is a case that has been in the discussion among the judiciary system for a while now2.
Noel Douglas Conway is 67 years old and has been suffering from Motor Neurone
Disease (MND) diagnosed in 2012. In order to understand the gravity of the situation it is
essential to know about the syndrome that he was suffering form. In this condition where the
nerve cells which are responsible for voluntary muscle actions are attacked. With time the nerve
cells degenerates and weakens the average life expectancy of a person is in between two –three
years3.
The case that has been developed is when Mr. Conway wishes to end his life at a time
when he chooses. He wishes for this when he would expect his life expectancy to reduce to six to
four months. According to Mr Conway, he did not want his life to reduce to a quality where he
did not find any peace or enjoyment. He wanted to have a dignified death at the time that he
wanted, and during a state where he is conscious about the decisions that he is making. The team
argued that not only will the appeal of Mr. Conway will help him to pass away in a dignified
manner but will also help others who are in a similar state to express their wish.
1 Rachels, James. "The end of life: euthanasia and morality." (1987).
2 Rachels, James. "Active and passive euthanasia." Bioethics: An Introduction to the History, Methods, and
Practice (1975): 77-82.
3 Judiciary.uk. Judiciary.Uk, 2017, https://www.judiciary.uk/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/conway-v-justice-
secretary-judgment.pdf. Accessed 30 July 2018.

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NOEL CONWAY VS THE STATE ON ASSISTED SUICIDE
In the given scenario one of the major issues is that the right of Mr. Conway regarding
the autonomy of choosing the time of his death is being curbed by the article 2 which puts a ban
on the assisted suicide. The issue with the case is the fact that the person who is undergoing the
treatment should be kept under the care as long as he can before being subject to the harsh reality
of the death that he has to face. There is also an issue in the deciding the fact that if the person
should solely be given the right to choose the time and the condition of his death and in case it is
put forward in the society what would be the long term implications of such a judgment on the
society.
One of the major causes of the interpretive issues is the fact that the court has to consider
the overall implication of the decision on the whole society if it allows the people to decide the
time of their death through the assisted suicide. One of the major issues in this context is the fact
that the different people have different kind of medical and other complications and they may or
may not be fit to decide the condition of their death so it will not be good to put it on the whim of
a person who may be undergoing psychological and the medical effects of the disease.
Answer 2
The interpretation of the case by the court has major role to play in the decision that is
being taken by the court. In the case the decision of the bench was in the favour of the
preservation of the sanctity of the human life so that the people in the society do not take the ill
decision of always ending their life. It was seen the number of people opted for assisted suicide
because of the fact they were facing painful situation and they were not able to cope up with it.
The UK laws believe in the importance of the human life and therefore prohibit the allowance of
death to the people under any circumstance4. The very idea of the autonomy of the deciding to
4 Dyer, Clare. "Man with advanced MND loses challenge for an assisted death." (2017): j4631.

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NOEL CONWAY VS THE STATE ON ASSISTED SUICIDE
die is based on the fact that the person should be able to decide the time of their death but the is
question that that if the person suffering from a disease or undergoing a life altering medically
would be clinically sane to take such a decision.
There is a number of issues relating to the factors affecting a person decision that affect
the person’s life. In this case the decision is also affected by number of factors that the dignity of
death may be right of the person but there cannot be set of parameters to help identify the issues
in which a person can be allowed to die or the scenarios in which the plea is to be rejected. Since
there are a re a number of people who are locked up in their body and though they are not in
pain, have no motor functions at all. These people too ask for assisted suicide to relieve
themselves from the monotony of the bedridden life which would not be again permissible from
the government. This is again a matter of contention to understand the different factors that affect
the case of Mr Conway and the condition that he asking for5. The assisted suicide by the removal
of the life support is only given to the people who have almost no chances of survival or show
complete decadence in their condition slipping towards death.
The court also kept in mind that the autonomy will also grant the right of taking the life to
the people who are undergoing treatment for deadly diseases but have lost hope in their own
chances of survival. The court also asserts that the pulling of the medical treatment
understanding that it is no more important and the overall situation where the people seek to have
assisted suicide in not justified in this scenario. The medical knowledge is necessary to ascertain
the condition from which a person can be pulled of medication and the doctors don not want to
give up on the life of a patient.
5 Papadopoulou, Nataly. Assisted Dying as the Last Human Right: A Critical Review of the Eligibility Criteria for an
Assisted Dying Framework in England and Wales. Diss. School of Law, 2018.

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NOEL CONWAY VS THE STATE ON ASSISTED SUICIDE
Answer 3
In his appeal of assisted dying the court should have paid heed to the predicament of the
different factors affecting the life of Mr Conway due to the Motor Neuron Disorder he was
suffering from. The case was very different from the various cases where the patients wanted
assisted suicide just to save themselves from the situation of being dependent on others for
functioning normally in life. On the other hand, the case of Mr Conway was such that he would
be continuously in pin pain after a certain time adding on to the fact that he would be put on a
life support device to perform the necessary daily functions of his life. The situation that the
patient had to undergo and the medical implications of it must be heeded in this case. The case is
also exemplary due to the fact that it questions the extent to which that a person has the right
over himself and the leniency the human rights grants him for the proper functioning in the
society. The situations in which he asking for the permission of assisted suicide should also be
considered because he does not want to go through the pain and suffering that the disease is
bound to bring to the people in the society. One of the major issues in this consideration is that to
what extent the society can be taken into consideration in cases where they have no
understanding of the pain that the patient has to undergo in the situation6.
The case of assisted suicide should also be considered by the court as the person who is
committing it cannot be healed and is bound to suffer. Even in that case he chooses to survive as
long as he can sustain himself and bear the pain. It should also be considered he is not asking for
the permission of suicide just for the sake of exercising his freewill in the society but to save
himself from going through excruciating pain and dependence on machine for something as
basic as breathing. It is seen that that the patients have been helped to die by the removal of NIV
6 Danyliv, Andriy, and Ciaran O'Neill. "Attitudes towards legalising physician provided euthanasia in Britain: The
role of religion over time." Social Science & Medicine 128 (2015): 52-56.

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NOEL CONWAY VS THE STATE ON ASSISTED SUICIDE
but Mr Conway wants the right to choose the time and conditions of his death and needs
assistance in the planning of the ways to die by the experts. He could have gone for a criminal
way of just attempting suicide but he wants to live as long as he can independently without the
help of others. This proves that he does not want to die but also wants to live on his terms which
would be understood by the court in considering the facts relating to the scenarios of his survival
in the society. One of the important factors that should be considered is that there is no chance of
survival in this case and the disease will only lead to a gradual pain and deterioration of his
condition without any chance of improvement.
Part II
Answer 1
The moral and the legal issues in this case have to be the fact that the society will be
more stronger and functional if it allows the people to live with their choice and also the choice
to die in case of exceptional scenarios where they do not have a chance of survival. The moral
issues that cause the court to affect their decision relating to the various situational scenarios in
this case is that the allowance of assisted suicide in this case will affect the decision of may
others who will appeal in court for the same in different situations. However the right of man
who lives in dignified fashion should also be allowed a dignified death which leads to a moral
dilemma in theis case. Moreover there is dilemma in this case affecting Mr Conway as it puts
forward a major moral question forward in the society, Does the society and the law have the
right to put a man through the amount of pain is a scenario where the people does not understand
the pain in the case?

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NOEL CONWAY VS THE STATE ON ASSISTED SUICIDE
There are a number of issues in this case regarding the rights of the people in the society
and how they may affected by the judgement. Since the disease had no cure the prohibition in the
help in dying will only add to the pain of the people like Conway who choose to live a rather
independent life. The moral issue is where to draw the line when a person chooses to decide to
die using the help of the assisted suicide deciding the time of their death. In cases like that of
Conway where the death is imminent and is assisted by pain an immobility, the situations
become worse to comprehend. In this case it can be sought that the person themselves are the
only ones who can understand the amount of ability or disability that they are facing and should
be allowed to decide when they should be allowed to die by understanding themselves when the
pain becomes too unbearable for them or they become too dependent on the different
machineries to survive. The people countering the argument go on to say that the people in the
society the people should go about caring the people who are in need rather than allowing them
to die. This may be helpful for the people who are paralysed and dependent on support for their
sustenance but for the ones who are suffering from life threatening diseases to an extent Conway
is, it is not just not about the assisted living, it is also about the amount of pain they put people
through in the due process. The dilemma of forcing to live or allowing to die is one of the major
topics of debate where no side seems wrong. In any case the people who have to undergo
unsurmountable amount of pain in the process of dying must be alleviated from their pain and
helped in their choice.
Answer 2
There are number of moral values and theories keeping which in mind the court has
passed the judgement relating to the assisted suicide in the case of Conway. First of the life has a
value of the sanctity in the society and the taking of life is considered a crime. The conscience of

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NOEL CONWAY VS THE STATE ON ASSISTED SUICIDE
the people in the bench who are making the decision does not allow them to be held responsible
for the taking the life of a person who is innocent and sick. Moreover, the death of a person will
lead to number of cases of the kind where the people will cite the reason of a number diseases
leading to the death of the different people in the society.
The human life is given the supreme value in any constitution and there is no provision of
the taking of human life except in the case of various self-defence which will help in the
protection of self from inevitable death. The very nature of suffering that the person is
undergoing in the decision relating to the individual perspectives also helps in the decision of
Conway’s fate. There are a number of different people suffering from a number of diseases in the
society and a number of people are suffering from the same diseases as Conway7. There are a
number of implications of the issue and the decision that the court had to pass. In the religious
context too the suicide is seen as a prime sin in the society. It may therefore hurt the sentiments
of a number of people in the society as the very act will be against the religious beliefs of a
number of people. Moreover in the religions and in most cases the people who do not believe in
religion too also think that the suffering is a good thing which helps in the purging of the sins of
the people in the society. This however is a personal choice and belief and cannot be held
accountable in the society relating to the case of Conway.
The moral challenge of allowing a person to take his own life when the person has a
disease which will take his life in the due time. The moral consciousness of the court has also to
consider the fact that how can a person himself be allowed to judge the time of his death as he
may give up early due to the conditions he is facing and give his life which would not be right in
a legal sense. The concept of the assisted suicide will give the power in the hands of the patients
7 Steck, Nicole, et al. "Euthanasia and assisted suicide in selected European countries and US states: systematic
literature review." Medical care 51.10 (2013): 938-944.

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NOEL CONWAY VS THE STATE ON ASSISTED SUICIDE
thereby raising a number of requests for the case will rise people citing a number of reason
ranging from mood related disorders like depression to physical disabilities. This is the case
which would raise longer debates as there are no parameters to differentiate between the physical
pain the person faces in the case like Conway or the psychological pain mood disorders8.
Answer 3
In this case the court took into considerations a number of major moral theories to
address the case of assisted suicide but most importantly the decision in based on the morality is
the preservation of the sanctity of the human life in the society. The person who is suffering from
a disease also has a number of different medications going into him and number of different
psychological factors affecting their overall situations. The question that is raised is whether a
person who is undergoing a medication for a degenerative disease has the right mind set to
decide the time of his death. Another major issue in this case would be the situations that affect
the decision making and the bifurcation of the different kinds of diseases in which the patient
should be allowed to go for the assisted suicide9. There is also no perfect way to ascertain the
situations in which the people can take the help and the cases in which the requests can be
rejected. The different laws that are made in the society resonate around the fact of the
preservation of the human life and the ways in which the people can take the decision of taking
their own life. It was seen when the assisted suicide was permitted in the Netherlands a large
number of people opted for it but what are the parameters that can be considered to give the
autonomy of that judgement to the people in the society is a matter of debate10.
8 Stronegger, Willibald J., et al. "Factors associated with the rejection of active euthanasia: a survey among the
general public in Austria." BMC medical ethics 14.1 (2013): 26.
9 Chambaere, Kenneth, et al. "Recent trends in euthanasia and other end-of-life practices in Belgium." New England
Journal of Medicine 372.12 (2015): 1179-1181.
10 Cox, Karen, et al. "Public attitudes to death and dying in the UK: a review of published literature." BMJ
Supportive & Palliative Care 3.1 (2013): 37-45.

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NOEL CONWAY VS THE STATE ON ASSISTED SUICIDE
The idea of the decisions was based on the basic thought that the life was a part of nature
and the freedom of choice of ending one’s own will only blur the prospects of the saving in. it
can also be contended that the various people may vie for the assisted suicide in the different
parts of the treatment of the diseases which may give them unbearable pain but may cure them in
the long term. The human life and the option of taking it can only be decided when the person is
completely dependent on their survival cannot be judged by a person who is battling a disease.
Moreover, the taking of the human life cannot be adjudged by this factors also because the
person cannot decide the perfect time to take their own life11. It is also a major issue that this
would open doors for the people who are in pain and will seek the assisted suicide just for the
alleviation of the pain that they are facing12. The decision is based on the fact that Mr Conway is
not in the perfect decision for himself as he may as well be led array by the pain and the
medication that he is undergoing. Therefore it can be said that the decision was based on the
preservation of the human life and not on the fact that how they comprehend the ending of it.
11 Radbruch, Lukas, et al. "Euthanasia and physician-assisted suicide: a white paper from the European Association
for Palliative Care." Palliative medicine 30.2 (2016): 104-116.
12 Lamb, David. Down the slippery slope: arguing in applied ethics. Routledge, 2013.

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NOEL CONWAY VS THE STATE ON ASSISTED SUICIDE
Reference list:
Chambaere, Kenneth, et al. "Recent trends in euthanasia and other end-of-life practices in
Belgium." New England Journal of Medicine 372.12 (2015): 1179-1181.
Danyliv, Andriy, and Ciaran O'Neill. "Attitudes towards legalising physician provided
euthanasia in Britain: The role of religion over time." Social Science & Medicine 128 (2015): 52-
56.
Dyer, Clare. "Man with advanced MND loses challenge for an assisted death." (2017): j4631.
Judiciary.uk. Judiciary.Uk, 2017, https://www.judiciary.uk/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/conway-
v-justice-secretary-judgment.pdf. Accessed 30 July 2018.
Lamb, David. Down the slippery slope: arguing in applied ethics. Routledge, 2013.
Papadopoulou, Nataly. Assisted Dying as the Last Human Right: A Critical Review of the
Eligibility Criteria for an Assisted Dying Framework in England and Wales. Diss. School of
Law, 2018.
Rachels, James. "Active and passive euthanasia." Bioethics: An Introduction to the History,
Methods, and Practice (1975): 77-82.
Rachels, James. "The end of life: euthanasia and morality." (1987).
Radbruch, Lukas, et al. "Euthanasia and physician-assisted suicide: a white paper from the
European Association for Palliative Care." Palliative medicine 30.2 (2016): 104-116.