Canada: Christian Legal Fellowship arguments in Carter euthanasia caseFor Immediate Release from the CHRISTIAN LEGAL FELLOWSHIP
December 13, 2011
CLF TO PRESENT ARGUMENTS IN CARTER EUTHANASIA CASE
CLF to show existing laws against euthanasia and assisted suicide consistent with Charter
VANCOUVER, B.C. – The Christian Legal Fellowship (CLF) will present its written and oral arguments on December 14, 2011 in the Carter euthanasia and physician assisted suicide case before the Supreme Court of British Columbia. Revisiting a 1993 judgment by the Supreme Court of Canada in R. v. Rodriguez, the court is being asked to determine whether physicians can assist in the suicide of their patients under section 7 of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. Does the right to life in section 7 include the right to inflict death?
CLF is one of five intervenors presenting arguments before Madam Justice Lynn Smith of the Supreme Court of British Columbia.
The matter which began on November 14, 2011 was fast-tracked in order to conclude on December 14, after just four weeks of hearings and voluminous evidence from witnesses for the plaintiffs and the Attorneys General for Canada and British Columbia. The plaintiffs in the case include the BC Civil Liberties Association; a couple who travelled to Switzerland to assist in killing a family member; a woman with the terminal illness ALS; and a doctor who desires to assist in suicides. The Christian Legal Fellowship intervened in the case to provide argument about the inviolability of life as found in the Charter of Rights and Freedoms and to protect the well-being of the most vulnerable in Canadian society. Law professor, Bradley Miller, who is assisting CLF states, “The prohibition of intentional killing is fundamental to our legal and medical cultures.” He also notes, “A court is simply not the right forum for this debate.”
CLF argues that the court should be reluctant to strike down legislation on matters of complex public policy when the court does not have the benefit of wide-ranging consultations that are available to government. In the litigation before the court, there is a clear absence of many representative bodies and interested stakeholders due to the expedited nature of the hearing. The evidence is that based upon virtually every expert body that has addressed the question over the past 75 years, the risk is not one which should be taken.
Gerald Chipeur QC of Miller Thomson LLP, lead counsel for CLF in the case, comments that, “The Charter protects the right to life, not the right to death. Courts are not in a position to safely sanction the death of any person, no matter the circumstances. In the words of the Supreme Court of Canada, ‘the choice is one the courts cannot safely exercise.’”
Mr. Chipeur will be available for comment immediately prior to and following CLF’s arguments.
To access CLF’s closing arguments and other information, click here.
For further information or to arrange an interview, please contact:
Ruth A.M. Ross, B.A., LL.B.
Executive Director – General Legal Counsel
CHRISTIAN LEGAL FELLOWSHIP Alliance des chrétiens en droit Phone: (519) 641-8850 Fax: (519) 641-8866
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