Oxford Handbook of Medical Ethics and Law by Smajdor Anna;Herring Jonathan;Wheeler Robert;

Author:Smajdor, Anna;Herring, Jonathan;Wheeler, Robert;
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Oxford University Press, Incorporated
Published: 2021-12-15T00:00:00+00:00

Assisted suicide

While committing suicide is no longer illegal, assisting or encouraging someone else’s attempt is unlawful, and carries a maximum sentence of 14 years’ imprisonment. This is not the case throughout Europe, and in the Netherlands and Switzerland, voluntary euthanasia is legal. This has led to the emergence of ‘death tourism’ with people travelling from the UK to the assisted-suicide clinic ‘Dignitas’ in Switzerland, to end their lives.

The legal position on assisted suicide in Britain has raised ethical problems: a person may take their own life only if they have the means to do so independently. If they have the mental capacity to choose to end their lives, but not the physical ability to act on their choice, what then? Then, anybody who helps them carry out their wishes faces criminal prosecution.

However, the Director of Public Prosecutions has issued a Code of Practice for prosecutors to use in deciding whether or not to prosecute someone who has assisted or encouraged the suicide of others. This includes a list of 16 factors which would indicate that prosecution was suitable:

1. ‘[T]he victim was under 18 years of age;

2. the victim did not have the capacity (as defined by the Mental Capacity Act 2005) to reach an informed decision to commit suicide;

3. the victim had not reached a voluntary, clear, settled and informed decision to commit suicide;

4. the victim had not clearly and unequivocally communicated his or her decision to commit suicide to the suspect;

5. the victim did not seek the encouragement or assistance of the suspect personally or on his or her own initiative;

6. the suspect was not wholly motivated by compassion; for example, the suspect was motivated by the prospect that he or she or a person closely connected to him or her stood to gain in some way from the death of the victim;

7. the suspect pressured the victim to commit suicide;

8. the suspect did not take reasonable steps to ensure that any other person had not pressured the victim to commit suicide;

9. the suspect had a history of violence or abuse against the victim;

10. the victim was physically able to undertake the act that constituted the assistance him or herself;

11. the suspect was unknown to the victim and encouraged or assisted the victim to commit or attempt to commit suicide by providing specific information via, for example, a website or publication;

12. the suspect gave encouragement or assistance to more than one victim who were not known to each other;

13. the suspect was paid by the victim or those close to the victim for his or her encouragement or assistance;

14. the suspect was acting in his or her capacity as a medical doctor, nurse, other healthcare professional, a professional carer [whether for payment or not], or as a person in authority, such as a prison officer, and the victim was in his or her care;

15. the suspect was aware that the victim intended to commit suicide in a public place where it was reasonable to think that members of the public may be present;

16.

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