Dr Nataly Papadopoulou

I hold a Bachelor of Laws - LLB Law (2012) and a Doctor of Philosophy – PhD (2018) from Leicester Law School, University of Leicester, and a Master of Laws - LLM in Human Rights Law from the School of Law, Queen Mary, University of London (2013).

I am a fellow of the Higher Education Academy since 2019.

I am an academic with specialist knowledge in medical/health law and human rights. I research the law and practice at the end-of-life, especially the regulation and practice of assisted death from a comparative, contextual perspective. I consider assisted death as a global phenomenon, and a pressing contemporary challenge which demands legal and healthcare input, comparative, cross-disciplinary perspectives, creativity and innovation. I look at common law jurisdictions and European law systems (including jurisdictions like Belgium, the Netherlands, and Switzerland with established regulatory frameworks, but also jurisdictions with recently enacted legislation like Portugal, Canada, and Spain) to understand not just regulation and practice, but also the culture and politics shaping assisted death.

I am also an experienced Higher Education teacher, who has taught students of a wide range of skills and abilities, of different backgrounds and nationalities at UG and PG level.

I joined Leicester Law School again in August 2020.

My research is organised around three main pillars: 

1. The means (legislation, expert committees, citizens’ juries, public referenda, judicial decisions, etc.) and the reasons for reform achieved in some jurisdictions and not in other, and what this means for the future of assisted death culturally, socially, politically. 
2. Following regulation, the form law and its practice takes and how balance is achieved between competing rights, but also the interests of key actors.
3. The best way of ensuring conversations on death and dying as a society, including about all end-of-life options: advance directives, palliative care (including hospice care), funeral planning, will-writings, and so on.

I have been co-ordinating the following two research groups, one in the UK (Leicester), one in Europe.

Our European (KU Leuven/Brocher) research group on end-of-life:

First meeting: KU Leuven, Belgium (June 2022).

Second meeting: Brocher, Geneva, Switzerland (January 2025).

Key members: Prof Sandra Hotz (University of Neuchâtel, Switzerland), Prof Michael Kubiciel (Augsburg University, Germany); Dr Jesus Maria Fernandez Diaz (Founder & CEO, Hiris, Madrid); Prof Kristof Van Assche (Antwerp University, Belgium); Prof Steven Lierman (KU Leuven, Belgium); and Prof Christian Crocetta (Salesian University Institute of Venice – IUSVE).

Our Deliberate Dying group at the University of Leicester

An interdisciplinary Working Group made of: emergency physicians, clinical psychologists, archaeologists and historians, legal academics to explore first, culture around and management of suicide from a cross-cultural perspective, second, how law and clinical practice come together, third, perceptions, narratives, and the vocabulary used to talk about suicide, death, and dying.

Find further information and members of the team.

Books

Liz Wicks and Nataly Papadopoulou, Research Handbook on Human Rights Law and Health Research Handbooks in Human Rights series, Elgar Publishing (forthcoming January 2025). 

Journal Articles & Book Chapters

Nataly Papadopoulou and Cedric Gilson, ‘Political environments of assisted dying: affirming the legitimacy of assisted dying legislation’ in Liz Wicks and Nataly Papadopoulou, Research Handbooks in Human Rights series, Elgar Publishing (forthcoming January 2025).

Chrystala Fakonti and Nataly Papadopoulou, ‘Choice, autonomy, coercion in Scotland’s 2024 Assisted Dying for Terminally Ill Adults Bill: A criminal and medical law comment’ (forthcoming in the Edinburgh Law Review, 2024).

Nataly Papadopoulou, ‘Over to you’: another opportunity for the legislature and the judiciary to deliberate on assisted suicide/assisted dying in England and Wales' (forthcoming in the Medical Law International, 2024).

Nataly Papadopoulou and Liz Wicks, 'Taking ‘the right to life’ seriously: addressing the role of ‘the right to life’ in the context of assisted dying' (forthcoming in the Medical Law International, 2024). 

Nataly Papadopoulou and Clark Hobson, ‘Should courts hear oral evidence when determining the proportionality of section 2 (1) of the Suicide Act 1961?’ (2021) Medical Law Review 10.1093/medlaw/fwab039.

Clark Hobson and Nataly Papadopoulou, ‘Regulating Risk and Autonomy in Assisted Suicide: Conway v Secretary of State for Justice’ (2020) Medical Law Review 1-15.

Nataly Papadopoulou, ‘Losing our Grip on Death: What now for Assisted Dying in the UK?’ (2017) 5 Journal of Medical Law and Ethics 1, 57-79.

Nataly Papadopoulou, 'From Pretty to Nicklinson: Changing Judicial Attitudes to Assisted Dying' (2017) 3 European Human Rights Law Review, 298-307 (cited by the European Parliament and EPRS for selected readings on: 'Assisted Dying in the EU and Beyond').

Reports

Nataly Papadopoulou, Clark Hobson, Liz Wicks, Written expert submission for Health, Social Care and Sport Committee re the Assisted Dying for Terminally Ill Adults (Scotland) Bill (August 2024 - available on request).

Nataly Papadopoulou, Clark Hobson, Liz Wicks, Written expert submission to the Scottish Parliament re ‘a proposal for a Bill to enable competent adults who are terminally ill to be provided at their request with assistance to end their life’ (December 2021 - available on request).

Nataly Papadopoulou, Written submission for the Law Commission’s 14th Programme of law reform (July 2021 - available on request).

Dzehtsiarou, Falcetta, Giannoulopoulos, Johnson, Expert Submission to the Independent Human Rights Act Review (contributor, March 2021 – available on request).

Nataly Papadopoulou, Written submission to the Committee on Justice on the An Bille um Bás Dínitiúil, 2020/ Dying with Dignity Bill 2020 (January 2021 - available on request).

Book reviews/other:

Maribel Canto-Lopez, Arwen Joyce, and Nataly Papadopoulou, ‘Legal Skills for Citizens of Change Conference at University of Leicester explores legal skills from multiple perspectives' (2023) Association of Law Teachers Blog, available at http://lawteacher.ac.uk/alt-blog-2/.

Sue Westwood, Death Rights: Regulating the End of Life Medical Law Review (2023) 1-7 10.1093/medlaw/fwad011 – book review.

Ben P. White and Lindy Wilmott, International Perspectives on End-of-Life Law Reform: Politics, Persuasion and Persistence Bioethics (2022) https://doi.org/10.1111/bioe.13090 – book review.

David Albert Jones, Chris Gastmans, and Calum Mackellar, Euthanasia and Assisted Suicide: Lessons from Belgium 27 Medical Law Review 1 (2019) 180-187 -book review.

Nataly Papadopoulou, ‘Re: Canada’s new assisted dying law faces legal challenge’ BMJ 2016; 354 doi: https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.i3688 (Published 01 July 2016) (Response, 31 January 2017) (British Medical Journal (BMJ) response).

I am happy to supervise UG, LLM, and PhD students in matters relating to: Medical Law, Human Rights, End of life, Assisted suicide, Euthanasia, Death and dying.

I have supervised a number of LLB and LLM dissertations over the years on various topics around medical law, human rights, criminal law.

I currently supervise the following PGR students:

1. Lydia Kitchen FT centenary scholarship (2022-2026) on the topic of 'Human Rights Law and the Provision of Health Care: Rationing Decisions During a Pandemic' (with Prof Liz Wicks and Dr Louise Austin).

2. Kyla Lanford FT (2023-2027) on the topic of 'Mandatory Vaccination Reconsidered in light of the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Reflection on the Human Rights Infringements in the Healthcare Sector in the UK' (with Dr Stephen Riley).

3. Alissa Pham PT (2018-2024) on the topic of 'Building legal culture competency in Public Legal Education: A case study on activities for Law School students in aiding the public' (with Laura Bee, and Dr Ed Bates).

4. Afolabi Mutiat (2024-2028) Wellcome Trust Doctoral Training Programme Scholarship on the topic of ‘the legal, ethical and social implications of whole genome sequencing at birth’ (with Dr Tracey Elliott and Prof Jose Miola).

Undergraduate:

LW3220 Criminal Law

LW3260 Medical Law

LW1150 Law of Tort

Postgraduate - (new!) LLM Health Law:

Health Law II (Beginnings and Endings of Life)

Inequalities and Health

Human Rights and Health Care Law

Member (academic organisations, research centres, charity and campaign organisations):

The Association of Law Teachers; Socio-Legal Studies Association; Society of Legal Scholars.

Centre for European Law and Internationalisation (CELI); Centre for Rights and Equality in Health Law (CREHL).

Dignity in Dying; My Death My Decision; Liberty; Dignitas.

University key activities and responsibilities:

Pro Bono: Street Law academic coordinator; Leicester University and College Union (UCU) branch co-secretary.

External activities and responsibilities:

Peer-reviewing for: Medical Law Review, Medical Law International, European Yearbook on Human Rights, Northern Ireland Legal Quarterly, The LJMU Student Law Journal, Legal Issues Journal (also on the editorial board).

Active Member of the ECRN ThinkIN Group of The British Academy Early Career Researcher Network (2021 - now).

External academic research visits:

KU Leuven, Faculteit Rechtsgeleerdheid en Criminologische Wetenschappen - Global Professor & research fellow (sponsor: Prof. dr. Steven Lierman) - 2024.

Deustuko Unibertsitatea/Universidad de Deusto (sponsor: Profa. Dra. Elena Atienza Macías) - 2024.

Universidad de Zaragoza, Facultad de Derecho, Derecho Constitucional (sponsor: Prof. Gonzalo Arruego Rodríguez) - 2024.

Universidad de Santiago de Compostela, Departamento de Derecho Común (sponsor: Prof. Maria Paz Garcia Rubio, and others) - 2024.

Universidad de Granada - Facultad de Derecho (sponsors: Prof. Tasia Aránguez Sánchez & Prof. Fernando Esteban de la Rosa, and others) - 2024.

Brocher Foundation 2023-2025:

Lead applicants: Prof Sandra Hotz (University of Neuchâtel, Switzerland) & Dr Nataly Papadopoulou (University of Leicester, UK).

£7,000 aprx to hold a two-day workshop followed by a publication in Brocher, Switzerland to bring together experts from across Europe to discuss recent developments and directions in law, policy and practice on assisted dying.

LeicSurvey (large-scale digital survey tool, start-up):

1. £62,500 ARC Accelerate - ESRC/AHRC SHAPE Catalyst for ‘LeicSurvey: A digital survey tool for the heritage sector’ (Co-I, with Himanshu Kaul (PI), and Sarah Scott).
2. £35,000 MRC Impact Acceleration Account (IAA) for ‘Creating and promoting LeicSurvey: A digital survey tool for hospice care’ (Co-I, with Himanshu Kaul (PI), Mukund Janardhanan and others).
3. £12,000 Centenary Community Engagement Fund Project (Leicester Institute of Advance Studies) to initiate and create LeicSurvey for LOROS hospice (Co-I, with Himanshu Kaul (PI), Mukund Janardhanan and others).

Early Career Researcher (ECR) activities:

1. £5,000 aprx by the UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) Enhancing Research Culture Fund for academic activities relevant to CSSAH ECR Action Group 2022-2023.
2. £2,000 aprx (lead organiser) by the British Academy ECR Network (BA ECRN) to host Multidisciplinary Meet-up: Crises at College Court, University of Leicester 2023.
3. £8,000 by the BA ECRN to host Writing Retreat: September 2024 at Birmingham via the Writing Exchange and Support ThinkIn Group (lead organiser).
4. £8,000 by the BA ECRN to host Writing Retreat: February 2023 at Leicester via the Writing Exchange and Support ThinkIn Group (lead organiser).
5. £2,000 aprx by CSSAH, University of Leicester for ECR activities 2021-2022.

Other funding:

Research Handbook on Human Rights Law and Health (Elgar):

1. £1,000 aprx from Centre for Rights and Equality in Health Law (CREHL) to host first workshop of the research team.
2. £3,000 aprx from ESRC Impact Development Fund (University of Leicester) to host second workshop of the research team + £100 from Elgar Publishing.

ESRC Festival of Social Science

£1,500 aprx to design and organise public engagement event on ‘Well-being at the end’. Immersive exhibition on four key controversies around assisted dying, stakeholder panel discussions, mock Law Commission presentations, and a mock parliamentary session on voting on a new Assisted Dying Bill attended by 35 students aged between 18-21.

Travel grant

£2,500 aprx by the University of Huddersfield, research travel grant to attend 25th Annual World Congress of Medical Law in Tokyo, Japan August 2019.

Selected conferences:

'Reconciling the right to life with the right to die in the assisted dying discourse' Seminario INEDyTO de Bioética (SiB), Universidad de Granada (invited speaker - October 2024 - Granada, Spain).

‘Article 2 and dying: The different uses of the Right to Life in the context of dying with assistance’ Biennial International Conference of The World Federation of Right to Die Societies ('WFRTDS') (presenter - September 2024 - Dublin, Ireland).

‘Creating LeicSurvey: a survey tool for hospices’ 13th World Research Congress of the European Association for Palliative Care (presenter - May 2024 - Barcelona, Spain).

Legal Skills for Citizens of Change, 'Legal Technology for Students and Academics' (with K Georgiadis) (invited speaker/co-organiser - December 2022).

The Human Rights Act After 22 Years: Evolution, Impact, Future Directions, '22 years on – the HRA and its impact (and non-impact) on assisted dying' (invited speaker - November 2022 - London, UK).

Expert seminar on 'cross-border access to end-of-life service in Europe' (invited speaker - June 2022 - Leuven, Belgium).

The IV. International Medical Law Congress - Istanbul Medeniyet University Medical Law Research Center and Ankara Medipol University (invited member of the academic committee - November 2021 - virtual).

14th Programme of Law Reform - Law Commission: “speed” law reform presentation on ‘decriminalising assisted suicide’ - virtual).

‘Dying with Assistance: The Role of Evidence The Power of a Declaration the Call for an Inquiry’ SLSA Annual Conference - University of Cardiff (presenter - March 2021 - virtual).

‘Panel discussion on Assisted Dying reform’ Big Voice London Model Law Commission, University of Law (invited speaker - October 2019 - London).

‘Article 2 ECHR: A breach of the rights of those wanting to die?’ World Association for Medical Law (WAML) 2019 Congress - Waseda University (presenter - August 2019 - Tokyo, Japan).

‘On Article 2 and Dying with Assistance’ SLSA Annual Conference - University of Leeds (presenter - April 2019 - Leeds, UK).

‘Re-defining 'assisted dying' in England and Wales: A new proposal for legalisation’ SLS Annual Conference - Queen Mary University of London (presenter - September 2018 - London, UK).

‘How may Assisted Suicide be Legalised in England and Wales?’ Annual Leicester - Modena Conference - De Montford University Leicester (presenter - May 2018 - Leicester).

Human Rights Annual Conference, Lawyers without Boarders Student Division - King's College, Aberdeen University (invited speaker - April 2018 - Aberdeen).

‘The Last Human Right: A Critical Analysis of the Eligibility Criteria of the Commission on Assisted Dying’ A Right to Die? Socio-Legal Perspectives - Keele University (poster presentation - July 2017 - Keele).

‘Should you be suffering unbearably or be terminally ill to be allowed to die?’ SLSA Annual Conference 2017 - Newcastle University (presenter - April 2017 - Newcastle).

‘Terminal Illness as a Determinant for Assisted Dying Eligibility’ Edinburgh Postgraduate Conference: Law and its Boundaries - University of Edinburgh (presenter - January 2017 - Edinburgh).

'A Terminal Illness Criterion for Requesting Assistance in Dying?' Leicester-Modena Conference: A Dialogue on Law and Rights - University of Leicester (presenter - April 2016 - Leicester).

‘Rethinking Death: The Assisted Dying Bill 2014-15’ Midlands Postgraduate Conference in Law: Law, Rhetoric and Reality - University of Leicester (presenter - May 2015 - Leicester).

‘A Critical Approach for the UK Assisted Suicide Law’ Leicester-Modena Conference - Università degli Studi di Modena e Reggio Emilia, Modena, Italia (presenter - April 2015 - Italy).

‘Rethinking Death: Assisted Dying Bill 2014-15 the way forward?’ SLSA Annual Conference - University of Warwick (presenter - April 2015 - Warwick).

Νάταλη Παπαδοπούλου, 'Όχι δεν υπάρχουν γκρίζα σημεία στην νομοθεσία για την ευθανασία' (Αλήθεια, Κύπρος 2022) – Nataly Papadopoulou, ‘There is no space for uncertainties with regards to the laws on euthanasia’ (Alitheia Newspaper, Cyprus 2022).

Nataly Papadopoulou, 'How the Human Rights Act has helped the law on assisted suicide in England and Wales develop, and why we still need it' (Human Rights in Action project, April 2021)

Nataly Papadopoulou, 'The current call for a (fresh) inquiry on assisted suicide' (Journal of Medical Ethics blog, November 2020)

Nataly Papadopoulou, 'Assisted dying laws are progressing in some places - the UK isn't one of them' (The Independence and The Conversation, 2017)

Nataly Papadopoulou, ‘So, What About Assisted Dying?’ Socio-Legal Studies Association (SLSA) Blog (December 2016).