Jonathan Sumption QC

Jonathan Sumption QC, who retired from the Supreme Court bench last December, said he believed the law “should be broken from time to time”.

Proposals to allow those a terminal or life-shortening illness to end their life with the assistance of another has failed to win support in both the Scottish Parliament and the UK Parliament in recent years.

The existing laws have also been challenged in the courts, leading to questions over the over-expansion of the role of the judiciary.

Mr Sumption addressed the matter as part of his lecture series on “Law and the Decline of Politics”, The Guardian reports.

He said the disagreement over assisted dying, which he called “a major moral issue”, needed “a political process to resolve it”.

Offering his own opinion, he continued: “I think the law should continue to criminalise assisted suicide, and I think that the law should be broken from time to time.

“We need to have a law against it in order to prevent abuse. It has always been the case that it’s been criminal, but it’s also been the case that courageous friends and families have helped people to die.

“That is an untidy compromise few lawyers would adopt but I don’t believe there’s a moral obligation to obey the law. Ultimately it’s for each person to decide.”