ABSTRACT
Euthanasia and assisted suicide have reached a level whereby they are discussed in the media and by the public on a virtually daily basis. For example, there has been intense media coverage of the exodus by terminally ill patients from the UK who have travelled to Switzerland to commit suicide, and of recent treatment withdrawal cases from young children who are suffering from some disability. The role of doctors is central to any analysis of treatments and decisions at the end of life, but the essentially criminal law provisions with which they have to comply are far from clear. This book therefore examines the role which medical practitioners play in euthanasia, assisted suicide and withdrawing treatment, with particular concentration on the impact the criminal law concepts of intention and causation have on end-of-life decision-making.
