VANCOUVER — A B.C. Judge ruled Friday to strike down the law that makes physician-assisted death illegal in Canada.

B.C. Supreme Court Justice Lynn Smith ruled that the current law violates the constitutional rights of the three plaintiffs who led the landmark legal challenge.

"They succeed because the provisions unjustifiably infringe the equality rights of Gloria Taylor and the rights to life, liberty and security of the person of Lee Carter and Hollis Johnson," the judge concluded in a 395-page written judgment released today.

While declaring the law against euthanasia invalid, the judge suspended that declaration for one year to allow Parliament to set out what requirements are needed.

"During that period of suspension, a constitutional exemption will permit Ms. Taylor the option of physician-assisted death under a number of conditions," Smith ruled.

The judge set out the conditions in her ruling: Taylor must provide written consent, her attending physician must attest that she is terminally ill and near death with no hope of recovery, and the physician and a consulting psychiatrist must attest that Taylor is mentally competent.

Once those conditions are met, Taylor will have to apply in court for an order allowing a physician to assist her death, the judge said.

The judge found that "palliative care cannot relieve all suffering" and accepted that legal end-of-life practices allow doctors to withhold life-sustaining treatment and administer palliative sedation to the point of hastening death.

"There are respected practitioners who would support legal change," Smith wrote.

"They state that providing physician-assisted death in defined cases, with safeguards, would be consistent with their ethical views," she added.

The judge acknowledged that while public opinion is divided on the issue of physician-assisted death, a minority support having the option to end life rather than suffering excruciating pain from a terminal illness.

"The most commonly expressed reason for maintaining a distinction between current accepted end-of-life practices and physician-assisted death is that any system of safeguards will not adequately protect the vulnerable," Smith wrote.

"The evidence shows that risks exist, but they can be largely avoided through carefully designed, well-monitored safeguards," the judge ruled.

The case is expected to be appealed by the federal or B.C. governments, who opposed striking down the law.

Their position was that very good medical care is available for the dying, including palliative sedation to reduce end-of-life pain for patients suffering terminal illnesses such as cancer, ALS and Huntington's disease.

"We hope the government will not appeal," Joe Arvay, the constitutional lawyer representing the plaintiffs, said Friday.

He said his client, Taylor, who is terminally ill, cried with relief when she heard that the judge had ruled in her favour.

Taylor issued a statement Friday after the ruling, which said: "I'm deeply grateful to have the comfort of knowing that I have a choice at the end of my life. This is a blessing for me and other seriously and incurably ill individuals.

"This decision allows me to approach my death the same way I tried to live my life — with dignity, independence and grace."