The lawyer of euthanasia advocate and head of Exit International, Dr Philip Nitschke, is confident that the Supreme Court will look at the "legal merit" of his client's case after the Northern Territory health professional review tribunal upheld his medical suspension.
Dr Nitschke released an official statement on Tuesday explaining his intention to take his case before the Supreme Court. A central aspect of the statement is the concept of "rational suicide", which Mr Nugent will focus on before the Supreme Court:
"Voluntary euthanasia and rational suicide are very challenging issues for the medical profession ... We might not like or agree with such decisions but they cannot be interpreted as meaning that person is depressed or mentally incompetent. Nothing could be further from the truth."
The NT tribunal handed down the ruling in December 2014 after they were not convinced that the doctor acted lawfully. The judgment, described as "strongly worded" by the Sydney Morning Herald on Wednesday, stated that Dr Nitschke posed a significant public risk because his views could lead people to "follow the pathway to suicide believing it to be a pathway sanctioned by a medical practitioner and perhaps the medical profession generally".
The suspension of Dr Nitschke's medical licence by the Medical Board of Australia occurred in July 2014 after the ABC program "730" alleged that he counselled 45-year-old Perth resident, Nigel Brayley, who eventually used a euthanasia drug to take his own life. In Mr Brayley's suicide note, he explained that "ongoing" police harassment was the primary cause of his action. Mr Brayley was the subject of a police investigation after the death of his wife was later considered a possible murder.
The basis of Dr Nitschke's appeal, presented by barrister Peter Nugent, was that he was not in a formal doctor-patient relationship with Mr Brayley, thereby removing any medical obligation on the doctor's behalf. Mr Nugent maintained this position even though Dr Nitschke admitted, "I wish I'd responded differently, hindsight is great" before the NT tribunal.