Shabana Mahmood confirms MoJ warned about impact of assisted dying bill on courts before judicial signoff dropped

The Ministry of Justice sent Kim Leadbeater an impact assessment warning about the effect of the assisted dying bill on the criminal justice system if each case had to be signed off by a high court judge. Officials have pointed out that the MoJ has previously expressed concerns about the shortage of judges, and hinted that any advice to Leadbeater would have pointed out that it could add to the backlog of cases in Egland and Wales’ highest courts. The MoJ has previously expressed concern about the low number of high court judges, an insider said. This week, in response to these concerns, and similar points made by witnesses giving evidence to the committee looking at the bill, Leadbeater announced that she was dropping the plan in the bill for all assisted dying applications to be signed off by a judge. Shabana Mahmood, the justice secretary, told journalists: It is my job and that of my ministers and my officials to engage with the substance of the bill after the second reading and to make recommendations and to put options in front of the person who owns a bill, Kim Leadbetter, about what is and what is not operable. There were a number of options that she could have taken. It remains a decision for her about what options she chooses, what amendments she thinks she wants to make to the bill. And our job was to give dispassionate, neutral advice about what the thought could work in practice and what the ramifications of those options would be.