A court in the German city of Münster has ruled that seriously, as distinct from terminally ill people do not have the right to acquire lethal drugs that would enable them to kill themselves.

The decision was the result of a case in which three chronically ill people requested special permission from the Federal Institute for Drugs and Medical Devices (BfArM) to be allowed to buy the drugs needed to die by suicide.

The regional higher administrative court said the institute was not “obliged to allow seriously ill people who have decided to commit suicide the purchase” of lethal drugs for this purpose.

The ruling added that it is up to a democratically elected government to change the law on acquiring lethal drugs, but that in the meantime such a practice would remain illegal.

BfArM, with its headquarters in the western city of Bonn, has so far rejected 225 requests for suicide-assisting medication, according to Catholic news agency KNA.

Germany’s Constitutional Court overturned a law two years ago that had outlawed assisting those seeking to kill themselves However, a law permitting assisted suicide for the terminally ill has not yet been passed by parliament.