Professor David Albert Jones:

If the Supreme Court said there was a requirement, then Parliament would have to act.

The Supreme Court did not say that in the Fleming case. In the United Kingdom, after the Pretty case, we had the Nicklinson case, in which the court said that this was an important topic but not one for the courts, that it was for the UK Parliament to consider and that if the UK Parliament did not consider it, the courts might step in. That was in 2015. Later in 2015, the UK Parliament considered it and voted against it and when the issue came back to the courts in the Conway case, they no longer said the UK Parliament should act, but rather that the UK Parliament had considered it. It is a possible answer to say we should stick with the present framework. If the Parliament decides that is the answer, the courts will respect that the Parliament has considered it - that is the essential thing - and decided on this as the safest course. This will be respected by the courts. At least that is the evidence from the United Kingdom.