Speakers and Jury sessions

The Citizens’ Jury took place between April and June 2024. The Jury met for 7 sessions over a total of 24 hours. The webinar and sessions 1 – 4 took place online, and the final two sessions took place in-person in London.

Throughout the Jury process, expert witnesses and speakers were chosen to provide relevant information to the Jury members.

Each witness spoke for 5-10 minutes on a topic that was relevant to the Jury questions. Some speakers were asked to speak as ‘informants’ and some were asked to speak as ‘advocates’:

• Informants: Asked to explain a range of views, options and opinions that exist a topic.
• Advocates: Asked to present a personal opinion or, where relevant, the opinion of the organisation they were there to represent.

The full list of speakers and sessions is below. In addition to the presentations listed, Jury members were provided with a written evidence pack.

Introductory webinar – an introduction to the Jury’s purpose and topic

An introduction to the Citizens’ Jury

• Henrietta Hopkins, Lead Facilitator; Director, Hopkins Van Mil

Introduction to the purpose of the Jury

• Anne Kerr, Chair of the Advisory Board; Professor of Science and Technology Studies, Head of School, Social and Political Sciences, University of Glasgow

An introduction to listening and thinking

• Alan Renwick, Professor of Democratic Politics and Deputy Director of the Constitution Unit, University College London (Informant)

An introduction to ethical thinking

• Sarah Chan, Chancellor’s Fellow and Reader in Bioethics at the Usher Institute, University of Edinburgh (Informant)

Terminology, definitions and our Jury question

• Suzanne Ost, Professor of Law, Lancaster University (Jury Friend, Informant)
• Alexandra Mullock, Senior Lecturer in Medical Law, University of Manchester (Jury Friend, Informant)

Session 1 – The UK situation and an overview of assisted dying

The UK Context

• Adam McCann, Associate Professor of Criminal Law and Criminal Justice, University of Reading (Informant)

An introduction to Parliament

• Video: ‘An introduction to Parliament’

An overview of the components of assisted dying (Part 1)

• Isra Black, Associate Professor in Law and Vice Dean International in the Faculty of Laws, University College London (Informant)

An overview of the components of assisted dying (Part 2)

• Annabel Price, Consultant Liaison Psychiatrist, Addenbrooke’s Hospital; Visiting Researcher, Department of Psychiatry, University of Cambridge; Associate Specialist Director for Palliative Care, Cambridge Institute of Public Health. (Informant)

Jury Friends’ reflections

• Suzanne Ost, Professor of Law, Lancaster University (Jury Friend, Informant)

• Alexandra Mullock, Senior Lecturer in Medical Law, University of Manchester (Jury Friend, Informant)

Jury deliberations

Session 2 – The international context and case studies

The international context

• Adam McCann, Associate Professor of Criminal Law and Criminal Justice, University of Reading (Informant)

Case study – Canada

• Thomas McMorrow, Associate Professor and Undergraduate Program Director of Legal Studies, Ontario Tech University (Informant and advocate)

Case study – Canada

• Mary Shariff, Professor of Law and Director of Master of Human Rights Program, University of Manitoba (Informant and advocate)

Case study – Oregon, USA

• Nancy Berlinger, Senior Research Scholar, Hastings Centre, Garrison New York (Informant and advocate)

Case study – Oregon, USA

• Lydia Dugdale, Professor of Medicine and Director of the Centre for Clinical Medical Ethics, Columbia University (Informant and advocate)

Jury Friends’ reflections

• Suzanne Ost, Professor of Law, Lancaster University (Jury Friend, Informant)
• Alexandra Mullock, Senior Lecturer in Medical Law, University of Manchester (Jury Friend, Informant)

Jury deliberations

Session 3 – A range of perspectives: campaigning organisations and religions

Panel discussion & Q&A

• Gordon McDonald, CEO, Care Not Killing (Advocate)
• Lloyd Riley, Director of Policy and Research, Dignity in Dying (Advocate)
• Nathan Sitwell, Assisted Dying campaigner, Humanists UK (Advocate)
• Carol Davis, Board member, Living and Dying Well; Consultant in Palliative Medicine, University Hospital Southampton and Visiting Consultant in Palliative Medicine Jersey Hospice Care (Advocate)

An overview of faith and religious perspectives

• David A Jones, Professor in Bioethics, St Mary’s University and Director, Anscombe Bioethics Centre, Oxford (Informant)

A hospital chaplaincy perspective

• Shaykh Yunus Dudhwala, Head of Chaplaincy and Bereavement Services, Muslim Chaplain, Barts Health NHS Trust (Informant)

Jury Friends’ reflections

• Suzanne Ost, Professor of Law, Lancaster University (Jury Friend, Informant)
• Alexandra Mullock, Senior Lecturer in Medical Law, University of Manchester (Jury Friend, Informant)

Jury deliberations

Session 4 – A range of perspectives: lived experience, disability, palliative care and clinicians

An overview of disability views from a disability perspective

• Miro Griffiths, Lecturer in Social Policy and Disability Studies, University of Leeds (Advocate)

An overview of disability views from a disability perspective

• Tom Shakespeare, Professor of Disability Research, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (Advocate)

Five films of people sharing their lived experience based on a range of scenarios

People sharing their lived experience, based on the following scenarios (Advocates):

• A person with first-hand lived experience of a long-term health condition who is in favour of a change of the law on assisted dying.
• A person with first-hand lived experience of a terminal condition who is in favour of a change in the law on assisted dying.
• Individuals describing their experience of a family member who had an assisted death in Dignitas, Switzerland.
• A person with first-hand lived experience of a terminal condition who is in opposition to a change in the law on assisted dying.
• A person with lived experience of a longterm health condition who is in opposition to a change in the law on assisted dying.

An overview of palliative care

• Jamilla Hussain, Consultant in Palliative Medicine at Bradford NHS Trust, Honorary Senior Research Fellow, Hull York Medical School (Informant)

An overview of clinician perspectives – The British Medical Association (BMA)

• Andrew Green, Deputy Chair of BMA medical ethics committee and MEC lead on physician-assisted dying (Informant)

Jury Friends’ reflections

• Suzanne Ost, Professor of Law, Lancaster University (Jury Friend, Informant)

• Alexandra Mullock, Senior Lecturer in Medical Law, University of Manchester (Jury Friend, Informant)

Jury deliberations

Session 5 – Reviewing all the evidence and information

An overview of the Jury process so far

• Henrietta Hopkins, Lead Facilitator; Director, Hopkins Van Mil

Developing clear recommendations

• Suzanne Ost, Professor of Law, Lancaster University (Jury Friend, Informant)

Developing clear recommendations

• Alexandra Mullock, Senior Lecturer in Medical Law, University of Manchester (Jury Friend, Informant)

Session 6 – Deliberation and developing recommendations

Jury deliberation, voting, and forming recommendations