The National Director of Public Prosecutions (NDPP) will not oppose Dignity SA’s Constitutional Court challenge to decriminalise medically assisted dying, leaving the health minister and the Health Professions Council of SA (HPCSA) to contest the case. The NDPP was the last of the four respondents cited in Dignity SA’s case to state its position, which it did in a notice filed last week. The justice and constitutional development minister previously indicated the department would abide by the court’s decision. Dignity SA launched its bid to legalise medically assisted dying in the North Gauteng High Court in April. It argued the current ban is at odds with constitutionally enshrined rights to human dignity and bodily autonomy. Its campaign seeks to enable people suffering from a terminal illness or condition with no hope of cure or recovery to access medical assistance in dying, subject to strict criteria. “Under the current common law, any doctor or loved one who assists any suffering person to die may be prosecuted for murder. The decision by the country’s highest prosecuting authority not to oppose the application reflects a recognition that the minister of health is the most appropriate party to air the substantive arguments,” said Dignity SA chairperson and co-founder Willem Landman.Dignity SA’s high court application seeks an order declaring the blanket common law prohibition of medical assistance in dying (MAiD) unlawful, invalid and unconstitutional, and directing parliament to pass appropriate legislation to resolve the issue. It has also asked the court to suspend the declaration of invalidity for 24 months to give parliament time to develop a legislative framework with appropriate safeguards before MAiD is implemented. Dignity SA said that since theirs was a public interest case, it would ask the deputy judge president of the North Gauteng High Court for a case management directive to set timelines for the parties to file their papers. Health minister Aaron Motsoaledi has undertaken to submit his arguments against the case by July 31, according to Dignity SA operations manager Leigh Meinart. Business Day