Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill: call for evidence

Aims of the Bill

The Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill would allow adults who have mental capacity, are terminally ill and are in the final six months of their life, to request assistance from a doctor to end their life.

The applicant must be resident in either England or Wales. Two doctors must assess each request, at least seven days apart, to ensure that the person meets the eligibility criteria. The eligibility criteria include that the person has a “clear, settled and informed wish to end their own life” and that they have reached this decision voluntarily, without coercion or pressure. If both doctors state, independently of one another, that the eligibility criteria have been met, the person may apply to the High Court for approval of their request.

If the High Court decided that the applicant met the requirements of the bill, there would then be a 14-day reflection period (this would be shortened to 48 hours if death is imminent). After this time, the applicant may make a second declaration to request assistance to end their life. If the doctor continues to be satisfied that the person meets the eligibility criteria set out in the bill, a life-ending “approved substance”, to be self-administered, would be prescribed.

A person who provides assistance to another in accordance with the bill would not face any criminal (or civil) liability, and the Suicide Act 1961 would be amended accordingly. The section 2 offence would continue to apply to assistance falling outside the framework in the bill.

Follow the progress of the The Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill 2024-25

On 16 October 2024, Kim Leadbeater introduced the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill 2024-25 to the House of Commons, having been drawn highest in the private members’ bill ballot for the 2024-25 session.

The bill had its second reading on Friday 29 November 2024. Members of Parliament had a free vote on whether to give the bill a second reading and allow it to proceed to the next stage.

• Bills before Parliament: The Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill
• Read Explanatory Notes: The Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill
• House of Commons Library Briefing Paper

Guidance on submitting written evidence

Deadline for written evidence submissions

The Public Bill Committee is now able to receive written evidence. The sooner you send in your submission, the more time the Committee will have to take it into account during its consideration of the existing clauses of the Bill and of any amendments tabled to the Bill.  

Please note that when the Committee concludes its consideration of the Bill it is no longer able to receive written evidence. You are strongly advised to submit your written evidence as soon as possible.

What should written evidence cover?

Your submission should address matters contained within the Bill and concentrate on issues where you have expertise and on factual information of which you would like the Committee to be aware.

Your submission could most usefully:

• highlight or discuss views on or concerns with the existing provisions of the Bill;
• suggest amendments to the Bill, with supporting explanation; and
• (when amendments are published) support or oppose amendments tabled to the Bill by Members of Parliament, with supporting explanation.

It is helpful if the submission includes a brief introduction about you or your organisation. The submission should not have been previously published or circulated elsewhere.

If you have any concerns about your submission, please contact the Scrutiny Unit (details below).

How should written evidence be submitted?

Your submission should be emailed to tiabill@parliament.uk Please note that submissions sent to the Member in charge of the Bill will not be treated as evidence to the Public Bill Committee.

Submissions should be in the form of a Word document. A summary should be provided. Paragraphs should be numbered, but there should be no page numbering. Essential statistics or further details can be added as annexes, which should also be numbered.

As a guideline, submissions should not exceed 2,000 words.

Please include in the covering email the name, address, telephone number and email address of the person responsible for the submission. The submission should be dated.

What will happen to my evidence?

The written evidence will be made available to all Committee members to inform their consideration of the Bill.

Most submissions will also be published on the internet as soon as possible after the Committee has started sitting.

Those making a submission to a Committee should note the following:

• Committees publish most of the written evidence they receive on the internet (where it will be accessible to search engines).
• If you do not wish your submission to be published, you must clearly say so and explain your reasons for not wishing its disclosure. The Committee will take this into account in deciding whether to publish.
• If you wish to include private or confidential information in your submission to the Committee, please note that this will make it unlikely to be published. For further information please contact us on tiabill@parliament.uk
• A Committee is not obliged to accept your submission as evidence, nor to publish any or all of the submission even if it has been accepted as evidence. This may occur where a submission is very long or contains material to which it is inappropriate to give parliamentary privilege (see Guide for Witnesses for further information on parliamentary privilege).
• Material already published elsewhere should not form the basis of a submission, but may be referred to within a submission, in which case it should be clearly referenced, preferably with a hyperlink.
• You should be careful not to comment on matters currently before a court of law, or matters in respect of which court proceedings are imminent. If you anticipate such issues arising, you should discuss with the Clerk of the Committee how this might affect your submission.
• Once submitted, no public use should be made of any submission prepared specifically for the Committee unless you have first obtained permission from the Clerk of the Committee. If you are given permission by the Committee to publish your evidence separately, you should be aware that you will be legally responsible for its content.
• Evidence which is accepted by the Committee may be published online at any stage; when it is so published it becomes subject to parliamentary copyright and is protected by parliamentary privilege.
• Once you have received acknowledgement that the evidence has been published you may publicise or publish your evidence yourself. In doing so you must indicate that it was prepared for the Committee, and you should be aware that your publication or re-publication of your evidence may not be protected by parliamentary privilege.
• Public Bill Committees do not investigate individual cases of complaint or allegations of maladministration.

Data protection

• The personal information you supply will be processed in accordance with the provisions of the Data Protection Act 2018 for the purposes of attributing the evidence you submit and contacting you as necessary in connection with its processing.
• The Clerk of the House of Commons is the data controller for the purposes of the Act.
• If you have any queries or concerns about the collection and use of this information please advise the committee team providing your full contact details.
• For more information please see House of Commons Data Protection Information

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