England’s first Citizens’ Jury to explore public views on assisted dying has concluded

The thirty people selected to form a Citizen’s Jury and participate in the Nuffield Council on Bioethics’ (NCOB) project to explore public views on assisted dying have met for the final time and concluded their deliberations.

Together, the Jury, which provides a representative sample of the English population were charged with exploring and answering the following questions:

1. Should the law in England be changed to permit assisted dying?

i) What are the most important reasons in favour of permitting assisted dying?

ii) What are the most important reasons against permitting assisted dying?

2. If the law is changed to permit assisted dying in England, what should it include? What should it exclude?

3. If the law is not changed to permit assisted dying in England, are there any recommendations or changes to assisted dying policy that should be made?

Previously, we had committed to publishing a topline report detailing how the Jury voted and the recommendations they formed in July. However, in light of the summer General Election, we have decided to postpone our publication to early September 2024. The final report and independent evaluation of this project will still be published in early 2025.

Professor Anne Kerr, Member of the NCOB and Chair of the Assisted Dying Advisory Board said:

After months of careful deliberation, we now have the Jury’s votes and recommendations. We look forward to publishing these in the autumn as this new insight will surely help to inform future conversations on assisted dying. I would like to thank everyone involved in this project so far – especially the Jury members for their participation and commitment.”

If you would like to receive updates on the progress of the NCOB public engagement project on assisted dying, you can sign up for the mailing list here.