Victory for Debbie Purdy after historic ruling in right-to-die legal battle
Prosecutors must spell out policy for MS sufferer in assisted suicide case
Britian's highest court issued a historic judgment today that could finally remove the fear of prosecution from people who travel abroad to support relatives seeking an assisted suicide
「死ぬ権利」を巡る裁判で、３０日(木) デビー・パーディさん勝訴
自殺ほう助を受けた多発性硬化症(Multiple Sclerosis,略してMS)患者に対する裁判、訴追側は方針の説明すべし。
英国最高裁にて本日歴史的判決が下された。これで親族が海外へ渡り自殺ほう助(assisted suicide)を求める親族を持つ人々が自分が起訴されるという恐怖から解放される。
In a unanimous ruling, the law lords ordered the director of public prosecutions to immediately draw up a policy that would spell out when prosecutions would and would not be pursued.
The ruling was strongly in favour of Debbie Purdy, 46, who has multiple sclerosis and who has been fighting to protect her husband, Omar Puente, should he accompany her to a clinic in Switzerland that specialises in euthanasia. She had argued that the law was unclear and uncertainty surrounding the issue breached her human rights.
注： unanimous ruling=満場一致の判決 law lords=法律貴族(英国特有) public prosecution=公訴 euthanasia =安楽死 multiple sclerosis=多発性硬化症
Speaking outside the House of Lords after the judgment, Purdy, from Bradford, said she was "ecstatic".
"I am eagerly awaiting the DPP's policy publication so that we can make an informed decision to make sure what we do does not risk prosecution. I feel like I have my life back," she said. "I want to live my life to the full, but I don't want to suffer unnecessarily at the end of my life. This decision means that I can make an informed choice, with Omar, about whether he travels abroad with me to end my life because we will know exactly where we stand."
注：House of Lords=貴族院 DPP=民主進歩党
中略
At least 115 Britons have travelled abroad for an assisted suicide since 2002. Nearly 800 people from the UK have become members of Dignitas, the assisted suicide group based in Switzerland, since it was established in 1998. A report last month from campaign group Dignity in Dying, which has supported Purdy's case, said a further 34 Britons were in the final stages of preparing to follow.
2002年以降、少なくとも115人に上るイギリス人が自殺ほう助を求めて海外へ渡った。UK出身者800名がスイスにある自殺ほう助グループ「ディグニタス」の1998年の発足以来、メンバーになっている。パーディさんをサポートしたキャンペーングループ「ディグニティ・イン・ダイイング(尊厳死の意)」による先月の報告では、さらに34人のイギリス人が続くべく最終段階に入っているとのことである。
In their ruling, the law lords recognised that Purdy was one of a growing number of people likely to want to travel abroad to die.
この判決のなかで法律貴族たちは、海外で死ぬことを望む人々は増加の一途をたどっており、パーディさんはその一人であると認めた。
"The cases that have been referred to the DPP are few, but they will undoubtedly grow in number," said Lord Hope. "Decisions in this area of the law are, of course, highly sensitive to the facts of each case … But I would not regard these as reasons for excusing the DPP from the obligation to clarify what his position is."
Another of the law lords, Lady Hale added: "If we are serious about protecting autonomy we have to accept that autonomous individuals have different views about what makes their lives worth living. In additudinal surveys the British public have consistently supported assisted dying for people with a painful or unbearable incurable disease".
But the law lords were careful to avoid appearing to attempt to influence a change in the law. "It must be emphasised at the outset that it is no part of our function to change the law in order to decriminalise assisted suicide," Lord Hope said.
注：Lord Hope=ホープ判事
"No one who listened to the recent debate in the House of Lords … can be in any doubt as to the strength of feeling on either side or the difficulties that such a change in the law might give rise to".The Ministry of Justice said there was no need to change the law in the light of the Law Lords' ruling because the judgment related to the way the law was implemented by prosecutors, not the actual law itself.
The Ministry of Justice said there was no immediate need to change the law because the ruling related to the way prosecutors implemented it.
注：Ministry of Justice=裁判省(日本の法務省にあたる)
"The government believes that any change to the law in this area is an issue of individual conscience and a matter for parliament to decide, rather than government policy," it said.
「政府はこの分野の法律の変更は個人の良心によるものだと考え、政府の方針というよりも、国会で決定すべき事柄である。」とした。//
気がするわけだわ～ こりゃよくない。 
ほんと大変
なんて食べられないもんね、とばかりに現実的なセレクションで鉢植えしてますｗ
の色がなんて鮮やかなんだろうということ
が降ったけれど、すぐに止んでくれました。すると・・・
が・・・
虹で歓迎なんて、ステキ～～
が。。。
のものが写ってる…
