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Coroners and Justice Bill

Having neither legal nor medical practices, I hesitate to stand here at all and contribute to this debate, but some things worry me. I am concerned that this amendment would not prevent the families involved having the distress of police involvement, which is currently cited as an argument in its favour. But that would necessitate further legislation to prevent the police interviewing persons who had assisted in procuring someone else’s death. I cannot understand the noble and learned Lord, Lord Falconer, who would have us consider what he describes as a, ""more civilised approach to suicide"." There is no such thing as a civilised approach to suicide, which is an act of deliberate killing, irrespective of the circumstances. I do not think that we should ever pass legislation that gilds the termination of life, nor removes protection from the vulnerable. There are too many shortcomings in this for it to be an improvement on current law.