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Assisted suicide: when is it right to prosecute?

• Assisted Suicide: policy and consultation Opens new window

The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) would like public input to help decide which factors to take into account when deciding whether to prosecute over assisted suicide. The consultation questions can be downloaded, along with the interim policy, from the CPS website by following these links.

The consultation is open in England and Wales until 16 December 2009, after which a summary of the responses will be published. A finalised policy will be issued in Spring 2010.

• Assisted Suicide: the DPP's interim policy 2009-2010, and public consultation Opens new window

Assisted suicide - the current law

Presently, anyone who “aids, abets, counsels or procures the suicide of another” may, if convicted, be imprisoned for up to 14 years.

In practice though, the CPS decides whether to prosecute under the Suicide Act 1961 on a case-by-case basis. And there have been repeated calls for a change in the law.

What is new in the interim policy

The Director of Public Prosecution's (DPP's) interim policy lists the factors the CPS must take into account when it decides whether to prosecute. Among them are whether there was a financial motive and how the decision to die was made.

The interim policy will apply to all current and future cases of assisted suicide in England and Wales until a final policy is published. Under the interim policy the CPS is more likely to prosecute if one or more of the following factors apply:

• the victim was under 18 years of age
  
• the victim had a recognised mental illness or learning difficulty
  
• the victim did not have a clear, settled and informed wish to commit suicide
  
• the victim did not clearly state to the suspect their wish to commit suicide
  
• the victim did not ask for the assistance of the suspect on their own initiative
  
• the victim did not have a terminal illness, incurable disability or a degenerative physical condition from which there was no possibility of recovery
  
• the suspect was not wholly motivated by compassion, or stood to gain in some way from the death of the victim
  
• the suspect persuaded, pressured or maliciously encouraged the victim to commit suicide, or exercised improper influence in the victim's decision to do so.

In addition, as for all cases brought by the CPS, there must be enough evidence for a realistic possibility of conviction.

The DPP said: "This policy does not, in any way, permit euthanasia. The taking of life by another person is murder or manslaughter - which are among the most serious criminal offences.”