Lord Sumption previously backed a change in the law to allow assisted dying but described Kim Leadbeater’s legislation as ‘over-engineered, bureaucratic, and coldly inhumane’. The UK’s former top judge has warned that assisted dying decisions should be kept out of the courts, suggesting the removal of the clause that requires terminally ill people to get court approval.
![[Kim Leadbeater (Stefan Rousseau/PA)]](https://static.independent.co.uk/2025/01/28/00/081bbabfd3a75dc8dabd8d1b57197674Y29udGVudHNlYXJjaGFwaSwxNzM4MDg0Nzcz-2.78179084.jpg)
The Bill could see terminally ill adults in England and Wales with under six months to live legally allowed to end their lives, subject to approval by two doctors and a High Court judge. But giving evidence at the Assisted Dying Committee on Wednesday, Lord Sumption suggested the removal of the clause 12 stage, which requires a terminally ill person to apply to the High Court for a declaration that the requirements of the Bill have been met.
The former Supreme Court justice previously backed a change in the law to allow assisted dying, but described Kim Leadbeater’s legislation – which passed its second reading in the Commons before Christmas last year – as “over-engineered, bureaucratic, and coldly inhumane”.
He is one of about 50 witnesses who will give evidence across three days this week as the committee prepares to look next month in detail at each part of the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill. Ms Leadbeater asked him whether he would agree with remarks made by England’s chief medical officer Prof Chris Whitty, who urged MPs to not overly complicate assisted dying laws if they are to introduce it.
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