The B.C. Civil Liberties Association and the individual plaintiffs in the death with dignity lawsuit are represented by three of Canada’s top constitutional lawyers: Sheila Tucker of Davis LLP and Alison Latimer and Joseph Arvay, Q.C. of Arvay Finlay Barristers.

These remarkable lawyers fought tirelessly to secure a watershed victory from the B.C. Supreme Court where the court ruled that the right to die with dignity is protected by the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. Now, they are continuing with the lawsuit, arguing to uphold the Supreme Court decision in appeal proceedings brought by government.

The case is a monumental undertaking. Our lawyers gathered the testimony of medical, ethics and legal experts from across the world to explain to the Court why a right to a death with dignity is a basic human right.

Few lawyers would have taken on this fight; after all, a similar case from 1993 that decided Canadians have no such right – the well known Sue Rodriguez case. The legal hurdles were extreme. Yet when no one else dared to try, these three lawyers had the temerity to believe that they would challenge the laws and win. And win they did.

These committed lawyers work on the case pro bono. Despite logging thousands of hours of preparation and argument at trial, Ms. Tucker, Ms. Latimer and Mr. Arvay contribute their time without charge.

This team of public-minded lawyers are the pinnacle of legal professionalism, integrity and acumen. Their unswerving dedication to furthering the public good is a credit to the legal profession.

We wish to offer them our sincere thanks.

Best,

David Eby, Executive Director

Joseph Arvay, Q.C.	Sheila Tucker	Alison Latimer

Further Resources
The BCCLA has a number of resources related to this case.

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