LAWYER IN THE NEWS

Mona ArshiLiberty

Who? Mona Arshi, 31-year-old in-house lawyer at Liberty, the civil rights pressure group.Why is she in the news? Liberty represents Diane Pretty, the mother of four who is terminally ill with motor neurone disease, and last week became the first person to launch a High Court challenge to Britain's law on assisted suicide.

Ms Pretty, who has great difficulty moving and speaking, and has to be fed through a tube, was granted leave to bring a judicial review of a decision by the Director of Public Prosecutions not to rule out prosecuting her husband, Brian, if he helps her commit suicide.Route to the case: 'Liberty receives a number of letters from people asking for our help with civil liberties issues.

Ms Pretty wrote to us and as I thought the issues involved were very interesting, I took it up.'Background: LLB at Birmingham Polytechnic (now the University of Central England) 1988-91, followed by Law Society finals at Guildford College of Law in 1992.

She qualified in 1995 with JR Jones, a civil liberties specialist firm in west London, staying there until January 2000 when she moved to Liberty.Thoughts on the case: 'The case is fascinating as it raises not only legal issues but a number of ethical, moral and philosophical ones also.

It is all about Ms Pretty's right to live and die with dignity - it is tremendously unfair that her husband could face a 14-year jail sentence simply for trying to carry out his wife's wish to have a dignified end to her life.

It is potentially a landmark case, because if the court declares that the Suicide Act is incompatible with the Human Rights Act, the government will have to reconsider suicide legislation in its present form.'Dealing with the media: 'Liberty is used to dealing with high-profile cases, and as such the legal team has been given media training.

The interest in this case, however, has been phenomenal, as it is not only of human interest, but also touches on wider and deeper issues.

The coverage has been tremendously positive, and what I find immensely cheering is that this case has sparked a real debate in the media about the ethics and morals involved with assisted suicides.'Victoria MacCallum