Lord Falconer Suggests Archbishop of Canterbury’s Stance on Assisted Suicide Lacks Christian Compassion
THE TELEGRAPH: Lord Falconer has suggested that the Archbishop of Canterbury’s stance on assisted suicide lacks Christian compassion.

The former Lord Chancellor claimed Dr Rowan Williams should not want the relatives of terminally ill people to be prosecuted for helping them end their lives.

He called on the Church of England to take part in a wider discussion on assisted dying, even though it has been at the forefront of opposition to possible changes in the law.

Lord Falconer is the latest high-profile legal figure to speak out in the polarised debate over whether anyone who helps a loved one end their suffering should face jail.

His attempt to amend current laws – which make aiding and abetting suicide a crime punishable by up to 14 years behind bars – failed in the House of Lords in July. He wanted to remove the threat of prosecution for people who help relatives travel to “suicide clinics” such as Dignitas in Switzerland, as long as two doctors had certified they were terminally ill and had made their decision rationally. >>> Martin Beckford, Religious Affairs Correspondent | Friday, September 11, 2009

A Free Speech Crusade We Should All Be Proud to Join
EVENING STANDARD: Saudi bankers and Russian oligarchs love London, and not only for its chichi boutiques. English judges provide them with a unique and de-luxe service: the right to silence detractors from all corners of the globe.

Their behaviour is causing an international scandal but you would never guess it from the wretched response to the Daily Mail editor-in-chief's criticisms of Mr Justice Eady. The supposedly liberal-minded Lord Falconer, the former Labour Lord Chancellor, and Lord Lester, who once championed human rights, have burbled their defences of Eady, apparently unaware that all over the world honest people fear him.

I've been on the fringes of campaigns for freedom of expression for years, and could provide dozens of examples. But let us begin with the case that has made English law a laughing stock.

One of Barack Obama's first acts as president will be to sign into law the Libel Tourism Bill, which is sailing through the US Congress. America is an ally whose law has its roots in England but because of Eady it will not recognise the judgments of English courts.

Eady allowed the billionaire Saudi banker Khalid bin Mahfouz to sue Rachel Ehrenfeld, an American author. Ms Ehrenfeld had not published or promoted her book on the funding of terrorism in England. The sheikh had paid hundreds of millions of dollars in fines after the collapse of the corrupt Bank of Credit and Commerce International.

Eady shrugged and ordered that all copies of Ehrenfeld's book should nevertheless be pulped. >>> Nick Cohen | November 12, 2008

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