The House of Lords handed down their decision in R Purdy v Director of Public Prosecutions [2009] UKHL 45 on 30th July 2009. Debbie Purdy sought clarification of the DPP’s policy on bringing prosecutions under section 2(1) of the Suicide Act 1961 c.60 against people who assist those in travelling to a country where assisted suicide is lawful. Ms Purdy was seeking information to allow her to make an informed decision as to whether to ask her husband for assistance, rather than seeking a guarantee of immunity from prosecution.

Reversing the decision of the Court of Appeal and departing from their previous decision in R (Pretty) v Director of Public Prosecutions [2001] UKHL 61, the House of Lords held that the right to respect for private life in article 8(1) of schedule 1 to the Human Rights Act 1998 c.42 was engaged in that although the right relates to the way a person lives, the way a person chooses to end their life is part of the act of living. In line with the reasoning of the European Court of Human Rights in Pretty the lords recognised that the notion of self-determination may also include the opportunity to pursue activities perceived to be of a physically or morally harmful nature for the individual concerned.

The Lords held that the Code for Crown Prosecutors falls short of what is needed to satisfy article 8(2). In order to satisfy the requirements of accessibility and foreseeability an individual must know from the wording of the relevant provision what acts will make him criminally liable and must be able to foresee the consequences which a given action may entail; many of the factors within the Code are irrelevant for the purposes of determining whether prosecution in the instance of assisted suicide is in the public interest.

Allowing the appeal the Lords concluded that there was an obvious gulf between what section 2(1) of the Suicide Act 1961 stated and the way in which it was being applied in practice. The Lords required the Director to promulgate an offence specific policy identifying the facts and circumstances which he will take into account in deciding whether or not to consent to a prosecution under section 2(1) of the 1961 Act.