Asked by: Helen Grant (Conservative - Maidstone and Malling)
Question to the Attorney General:
To ask the Solicitor General, if she will make an assessment of whether the restriction of the application of the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill to terminally ill patients is compliant with the European Convention on Human Rights.
Answered by Sarah Sackman - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
Paragraph 21.27 of Erskine May states:
“By long-standing convention, observed by successive Governments, the fact of, and substance of advice from, the law officers of the Crown is not disclosed outside government. This convention is referred to in paragraph [5.14] of the Ministerial Code [updated on 6 November 2024]. The purpose of this convention is to enable the Government to obtain frank and full legal advice in confidence.”
This is known as the Law Officers’ Convention and it applies to your question.