But, in the meantime, in a 5-4 decision, the court ruled, Quebec doctors would be exempt from the criminal law because that province has legislated a new legal regime under health care laws to protect doctors and patients.
Elsewhere in Canada, doctors may also be exempt from criminal liability in certain instances.
The judges said that individuals who desire a physician’s help to commit suicide, who meet the criteria set out in last year’s ruling, may apply to courts for a personal exemption to the current criminal law which will remain in effect until June 6.
“In agreeing that more time is needed, we do not at the same time see any need to unfairly prolong the suffering of those who meet the clear criteria we set out in Carter (the matter being heard by the Supreme Court). An exemption can mitigate the severe harm that may be occasioned to those adults who have a grievous, intolerable and irremediable medical condition by making a remedy available now pending Parliament’s response,” said the majority of judges, which include Rosalie Abella, Andromache Karakatsanis, Richard Wagner, Clement Gascon and Suzanne Cote.
The ruling recognized that, neither the federal government, nor the original groups that challenged the federal law, opposed Quebec’s request for an exemption.
But the judges said the ruling should not be taken as an endorsement of the Quebec regime as constitutional.
In the ruling released Friday, four days after the high court heard the new Liberal government’s appeal for more time, the judges said that to extend the law’s application after a finding it was unconstitutional was an “extraordinary” step, but that “the length of the interruption of work on a legislative response to the Court’s decision due to a federal election” was reason to allow more time.
“They can now go to a court in their home province or territory and get permission to have a physician-assisted death. We think it’s a real victory for respecting those people’s rights,” he told CBC. “It shouldn’t have been on their backs and added to their suffering that the government has asked for some more time.”