Suicide
Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Mental disorders (including depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, personality disorders, anxiety disorders), physical disorders (such as chronic fatigue syndrome), and s ...
is a crime in some parts of the world. However, while suicide has been decriminalized in many western countries, the act is
stigmatized
Social stigma is the disapproval of, or discrimination against, an individual or group based on perceived characteristics that serve to distinguish them from other members of a society. Social stigmas are commonly related to culture, gender, rac ...
and discouraged. In other contexts, suicide could be utilized as an extreme expression of liberty, as is exemplified by its usage as an expression of devout dissent towards perceived tyranny or injustice which occurred occasionally in cultures like
ancient Rome
In modern historiography, ancient Rome refers to Roman civilisation from the founding of the city of Rome in the 8th century BC to the collapse of the Western Roman Empire in the 5th century AD. It encompasses the Roman Kingdom (753–509 B ...
,
medieval Japan
The first human inhabitants of the Japanese archipelago have been traced to prehistoric times around 30,000 BC. The Jōmon period, named after its cord-marked pottery, was followed by the Yayoi period in the first millennium BC when new inventi ...
, or today's Chinese Tibet.
While a person who has died of suicide is beyond the reach of the law, there can still be legal consequences in relation to treatment of the corpse or the fate of the person's property or family members. The associated matters of
assisting a suicide and
attempting suicide have also been dealt with by the laws of some jurisdictions. Some countries
criminalise suicide attempts.
History
In
ancient Athens
Athens is one of the oldest named cities in the world, having been continuously inhabited for perhaps 5,000 years. Situated in southern Europe, Athens became the leading city of Ancient Greece in the first millennium BC, and its cultural achieve ...
, a person who had died of suicide (without the approval of the state) was denied the honours of a normal burial. The person would be buried alone, on the outskirts of the city, without a headstone or marker. A criminal ordinance issued by
Louis XIV
, house = Bourbon
, father = Louis XIII
, mother = Anne of Austria
, birth_date =
, birth_place = Château de Saint-Germain-en-Laye, Saint-Germain-en-Laye, France
, death_date =
, death_place = Palace of Vers ...
in 1670 was far more severe in its punishment: the dead person's body was drawn through the streets, face down, and then hung or thrown on a garbage heap. Additionally, all of the person's property was confiscated.
The '
Burial of Suicide Act
Burial, also known as interment or inhumation, is a method of final disposition whereby a dead body is placed into the ground, sometimes with objects. This is usually accomplished by excavating a pit or trench, placing the deceased and objec ...
' of 1823 abolished the legal requirement in England of burying suicides at crossroads.
Assisted suicide
In many
jurisdictions
Jurisdiction (from Latin 'law' + 'declaration') is the legal term for the legal authority granted to a legal entity to enact justice. In federations like the United States, areas of jurisdiction apply to local, state, and federal levels.
Jur ...
it is a crime to assist others, directly or indirectly, in taking their own lives. In some jurisdictions, it is also illegal to encourage them to do so. Sometimes an exception applies for physician assisted suicide (PAS), under strict conditions.
Laws in individual jurisdictions (table)
Africa
Americas
Asia
Europe
Oceania
Laws in individual jurisdictions
Australia
Victoria
In the
Australia
Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...
n state of
Victoria
Victoria most commonly refers to:
* Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia
* Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada
* Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory
* Victoria, Seychelle ...
, while suicide itself is no longer a crime, a survivor of a
suicide pact
A suicide pact is an agreed plan between two or more individuals to die by suicide. The plan may be to die together, or separately and closely timed.
General considerations
Suicide pacts are an important concept in the study of suicide, and h ...
can be charged with
manslaughter
Manslaughter is a common law legal term for homicide considered by law as less culpable than murder. The distinction between murder and manslaughter is sometimes said to have first been made by the ancient Athenian lawmaker Draco in the 7th cen ...
rather than
murder
Murder is the unlawful killing of another human without justification (jurisprudence), justification or valid excuse (legal), excuse, especially the unlawful killing of another human with malice aforethought. ("The killing of another person wit ...
if they killed the deceased party. Also, it is a crime to counsel,
incite, or aid and abet another in attempting suicide, and the law explicitly allows any person to use "such force as may reasonably be necessary" to prevent another from committing suicide.
On 29 November 2017 the state of Victoria passed the
Voluntary Assisted Dying Act, making it legal for a doctor to assist a terminally ill patient with less than six months to live to end their own life. The law came into effect on 19 June 2019.
Queensland
On 17 September 2021 the state of
Queensland
)
, nickname = Sunshine State
, image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg
, map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia
, subdivision_type = Country
, subdivision_name = Australia
, established_title = Before federation
, established_ ...
passed the Voluntary Assisted Dying Act 2021.
The law will come into effect on 1 January 2023.
Legislation decriminalizing suicide in Australian States and Territories
Canada
The common-law crimes of attempting suicide and of assisting suicide were codified in Canada when Parliament enacted the
Criminal Code
A criminal code (or penal code) is a document that compiles all, or a significant amount of a particular jurisdiction's criminal law. Typically a criminal code will contain offences that are recognised in the jurisdiction, penalties that migh ...
in 1892. It carried a maximum penalty of 2 years' imprisonment. Eighty years later, in 1972, Parliament repealed the offence of attempting suicide from the Criminal Code based on the argument that a legal deterrent was unnecessary.
[ The prohibition on assisting suicide remained, as s 241 of the Criminal Code:
:Counselling or aiding suicide
:241. Every one who
::(a) counsels a person to commit suicide, or
::''(b) aids or abets a person to commit suicide'',
: whether suicide ensues or not, is guilty of an indictable offence and liable to imprisonment for a term not exceeding fourteen years.
However, the law against assisted suicide, including physician-assisted suicide, was the subject of much debate including two reports of the ]Law Reform Commission of Canada
The Law Commission of Canada was an independent law commission that gave advice to the Canadian government on matters of law. The body was created in 1971 as the Law Reform Commission of Canada and was disbanded in 1992. The body was reestablished ...
in 1982 and 1983, though these did not support changing the law.
In 1993, the offence of assisted suicide survived a constitutional challenge in the Supreme Court of Canada
The Supreme Court of Canada (SCC; french: Cour suprême du Canada, CSC) is the Supreme court, highest court in the Court system of Canada, judicial system of Canada. It comprises List of Justices of the Supreme Court of Canada, nine justices, wh ...
, in the case of '' Rodriguez v. British Columbia (Attorney General)''. The plaintiff, Sue Rodriguez
Sue Rodriguez (August 2, 1950 – February 12, 1994) was a Canadian right-to-die activist. In August 1991, she was diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS or Lou Gehrig's disease) and was given two to five years to live. She ultimately ...
, had been diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis
Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), also known as motor neuron disease (MND) or Lou Gehrig's disease, is a neurodegenerative disease that results in the progressive loss of motor neurons that control voluntary muscles. ALS is the most comm ...
(ALS) in early 1991. She wished to be able to die of suicide at a time of her own choosing but would require assistance to do so because her physical condition prevented her from doing so without assistance. By a 5-4 majority, the Court held that the prohibition on assisted suicide did not infringe s 7 of the ''Canadian Charter of RIghts and Freedoms'', which provides constitutional protection for liberty and security of the person. The majority held that while the law did affect those rights, it did so in a manner consistent with the principles of fundamental justice. The majority also held that the prohibition on assisted suicide did not infringe the Charter's prohibition against cruel and unusual treatment or punishment. Assuming the prohibition did discriminate on basis of disability, the majority held that the infringement was a justifiable restriction.[
In 1995 the ]Senate
A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...
issued a report on assisted suicide entitled ''Of Life and Death''. In 2011 the Royal Society of Canada
The Royal Society of Canada (RSC; french: Société royale du Canada, SRC), also known as the Academies of Arts, Humanities and Sciences of Canada (French: ''Académies des arts, des lettres et des sciences du Canada''), is the senior national, bil ...
published its report on end-of-life decision-making. In the report it recommended that the Criminal Code be modified so as to permit assistance in dying under some circumstances. In 2012 a Select Committee on Dying with Dignity of the Quebec National Assembly
The National Assembly of Quebec (officially in french: link=no, Assemblée nationale du Québec) is the Legislature, legislative body of the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec in Canada. Legislators are called MNAs (Members ...
produced a report recommending amendments to legislation to recognize medical aid in dying as being an appropriate component of end-of-life care. That report resulted in ''An Act respecting end-of-life care'', which is set to come into force on December 10, 2015.[
On June 15, 2012, in '']Carter v Canada (AG)
''Carter v Canada (AG)'', 2015 SCC 5 is a landmark Supreme Court of Canada decision where the prohibition of assisted suicide was challenged as contrary to the ''Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms'' ("''Charter''") by several parties, inclu ...
'', the British Columbia Supreme Court
British may refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies.
** Britishness, the British identity and common culture
* British English, ...
ruled that the criminal offence prohibiting physician assistance of suicide was unconstitutional on the grounds that denying people access to assisted suicide in hard cases was contrary to the Charter of Rights and Freedoms
The ''Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms'' (french: Charte canadienne des droits et libertés), often simply referred to as the ''Charter'' in Canada, is a bill of rights entrenched in the Constitution of Canada, forming the first part o ...
guarantee of equality under Section 15.
This decision was subsequently overturned by the majority of the British Columbia Court of Appeal
The British Columbia Court of Appeal (BCCA) is the highest appellate court in the province of British Columbia, Canada. It was established in 1910 following the 1907 Court of Appeal Act.
The BCCA hears appeals from the Supreme Court of Britis ...
(2:1) on the basis that the issue had already been decided by the Supreme Court of Canada in the Rodriguez case, invoking ''stare decisis
A precedent is a principle or rule established in a previous legal case that is either binding on or persuasive for a court or other tribunal when deciding subsequent cases with similar issues or facts. Common-law legal systems place great valu ...
''.
A landmark Supreme Court of Canada
The Supreme Court of Canada (SCC; french: Cour suprême du Canada, CSC) is the Supreme court, highest court in the Court system of Canada, judicial system of Canada. It comprises List of Justices of the Supreme Court of Canada, nine justices, wh ...
decision on February 6, 2015 overturned the 1993 Rodriguez decision that had ruled against this method of dying. The unanimous decision
in the further appeal of Carter v Canada (AG)
''Carter v Canada (AG)'', 2015 SCC 5 is a landmark Supreme Court of Canada decision where the prohibition of assisted suicide was challenged as contrary to the ''Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms'' ("''Charter''") by several parties, inclu ...
, stated that a total prohibition of physician-assisted death is unconstitutional. The court's ruling limits exculpation of physicians engaging physician-assisted death to hard cases of "a competent adult person who clearly consents to the termination of life and has a grievous and irremediable medical condition, including an illness, disease or disability, that causes enduring suffering that is intolerable to the individual in the circumstances of his or her condition." The ruling was suspended for 12 months to allow the Canadian parliament to draft a new, constitutional law to replace the existing one.
Specifically, the Supreme Court held that the current legislation was overbroad in that it prohibits "physician‑assisted death for a competent adult person who (1) clearly consents to the termination of life and (2) has a grievous and irremediable medical condition (including an illness, disease or disability) that causes enduring suffering that is intolerable to the individual in the circumstances of his or her condition." The court decision includes a requirement that there must be stringent limits that are "scrupulously monitored." This will require the death certificate to be completed by an independent medical examiner, not the treating physician, to ensure the accuracy of reporting the cause of death.
The newly (November 2015) elected federal government subsequently requested a six-month extension for implementation; the arguments for this request were scheduled to be heard by the Supreme Court in January 2016.
The Canadian Medical Association (CMA) reported that not all doctors would be willing to help a patient die. The belief in late 2015 was that no physician would be forced to do so. The CMA was already offering educational sessions to members as to the process that would be used after the legislation had been implemented.
India
The Indian penal code 309 deals with punishment for attempted suicide. The Mental Health Care Act 2017 greatly limits the scope for the code to be implemented. The bill states, "Any person who attempts to commit suicide shall be presumed, unless proved otherwise, to have severe stress and shall not be tried and punished under the said Code". State governments are required to provide adequate care and rehabilitation for such individuals as to prevent a recurrence of an attempt to suicide.
Iran
The act of suicide has not been criminalized in the penal law of the Islamic Republic of Iran. However, no one is allowed to ask another to kill him/her. In addition, threatening to kill oneself is not an offense by the law, however if this act of threatening is done by a prisoner in a prison
A prison, also known as a jail, gaol (dated, standard English, Australian, and historically in Canada), penitentiary (American English and Canadian English), detention center (or detention centre outside the US), correction center, correc ...
, then that would be considered as violation of the prisons' regulations and the offender may be punished according to penal law.
According to the Act. 836 of the civil law of the Islamic Republic of Iran if a suicidal person A suicidal person is one who is experiencing a personal suicide crisis; that is the person is attempting suicide, is seeking a means to die by suicide, or is contemplating suicide.
Recognizing a suicidal person
A suicidal person may exhibit certa ...
prepares for suicide and writes a testament, if he/she dies, then by law the will is considered void and if he/she doesn't die, then the will is officially accepted and can be carried out.
According to the theory of "borrowed crime", because suicide itself is not a crime in penal law, thus any type of assisting in an individual's suicide is not considered a crime and the assistant is not punished. Assisting in suicide is considered a crime only when it becomes the "cause" of the suicidal person's death; for example when someone takes advantage of someone else's unawareness or simplicity and convince him/her to kill him/herself. In such cases assisting in suicide is treated as murder
Murder is the unlawful killing of another human without justification (jurisprudence), justification or valid excuse (legal), excuse, especially the unlawful killing of another human with malice aforethought. ("The killing of another person wit ...
and the offender is punished accordingly. In addition, assisting in suicide is considered a crime under section 2 of the Act. 15 of the cyber crimes law of the Islamic Republic of Iran which was legislated on June 15, 2009. According to the mentioned act, any type of encouragement, stimulation, invitation, simplification of access to lethal substances and/or methods and teaching of suicide with the help of computer
A computer is a machine that can be programmed to Execution (computing), carry out sequences of arithmetic or logical operations (computation) automatically. Modern digital electronic computers can perform generic sets of operations known as C ...
or any other media network is considered assisting in suicide and thus, is punished by imprisonment from 91 days up to 1 year or fines from 5 to 20 million Iranian Rials
The rial ( fa, ریال ایران, riyâl-è Irân; sign: ﷼; abbreviation: Rl (singular) and Rls (plural) or IR in Latin; ISO code: IRR) is the official currency of Iran.
There is no official symbol for the currency but the Iranian standard ...
or both.
Ireland
Attempted suicide is not a criminal offence in Ireland and, under Irish law, self-harm is not generally seen as a form of attempted suicide. It was decriminalised in 1993. Assisted suicide and euthanasia
Euthanasia (from el, εὐθανασία 'good death': εὖ, ''eu'' 'well, good' + θάνατος, ''thanatos'' 'death') is the practice of intentionally ending life to eliminate pain and suffering.
Different countries have different eut ...
are illegal. This is currently being challenged at the High Court, as of December 2012. As of 2014 assisted suicide remains illegal in Ireland.
Malaysia
Under section 309 of the Penal Code of Malaysia, whoever attempts to commit suicide, and does any act
towards the commission of such offence, shall be punished with imprisonment for a term which may extend to one year or with fine
or with both.
Netherlands
In the Netherlands
)
, anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau")
, image_map =
, map_caption =
, subdivision_type = Sovereign state
, subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands
, established_title = Before independence
, established_date = Spanish Netherl ...
, being present and giving moral support during someone's suicide is not a crime; neither is supplying general information on suicide techniques. However, it is a crime to participate in the preparation for or execution of a suicide, including supplying lethal means or instruction in their use. (Physician-assisted suicide
Assisted suicide is suicide undertaken with the aid of another person. The term usually refers to physician-assisted suicide (PAS), which is suicide that is assisted by a physician or other healthcare provider. Once it is determined that the p ...
may be an exception. See Euthanasia in the Netherlands
Euthanasia in the Netherlands is regulated by the "Termination of Life on Request and Assisted Suicide (Review Procedures) Act" which was passed in 2001 and took effect in 2002. It states that euthanasia and physician-assisted suicide are not ...
.)
New Zealand
As with many other western societies, New Zealand
New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...
has, since the 1961 Crimes Act, had no laws against suicide in itself, as a personal and unassisted act. Assisted suicide and voluntary euthanasia will be legal in certain circumstances as from November 2021. (For further details, see Euthanasia in New Zealand
Euthanasia became legal in New Zealand when the End of Life Choice Act 2019 took full effect on 7 November 2021. It is illegal to "aid and abet suicide" under Section 179 of the New Zealand Crimes Act 1961. The clauses of this act make it a ...
.)
Norway
Suicide or attempted suicide is not illegal in Norway. However, complicity
Complicity is the participation in a completed criminal act of an accomplice, a partner in the crime who aids or encourages ( abets) other perpetrators of that crime, and who shared with them an intent to act to complete the crime.''Criminal Law ...
is.
Romania
Suicide itself is not illegal in Romania, however encouraging or facilitating the suicide of another person is a criminal offense and is punishable by up to 7, 10 or 20 years in prison, depending on circumstances.
Russian Federation
In Russia, a person whose mental disorder
A mental disorder, also referred to as a mental illness or psychiatric disorder, is a behavioral or mental pattern that causes significant distress or impairment of personal functioning. Such features may be persistent, relapsing and remitti ...
"poses a direct danger to themself" can be put into a psychiatric hospital. In addition, after hospitalization in a psychiatric hospital, such a citizen of the Russian Federation may be subject to medical restrictions in the form of a driver's license or non-admission to obtain them, as well as such citizens are not allowed to serve in the army
An army (from Old French ''armee'', itself derived from the Latin verb ''armāre'', meaning "to arm", and related to the Latin noun ''arma'', meaning "arms" or "weapons"), ground force or land force is a fighting force that fights primarily on ...
, police
The police are a constituted body of persons empowered by a state, with the aim to enforce the law, to ensure the safety, health and possessions of citizens, and to prevent crime and civil disorder. Their lawful powers include arrest and t ...
and other law enforcement agencies and many other restrictions on employment.
In practice, this happens as follows: A failed suicider, detained by the police, for example, is taken to the department, then a psychiatric ambulance is called, a psychiatrist
A psychiatrist is a physician who specializes in psychiatry, the branch of medicine devoted to the diagnosis, prevention, study, and treatment of mental disorders. Psychiatrists are physicians and evaluate patients to determine whether their sy ...
on duty who arrives at the scene decides whether a citizen detained by the police needs hospitalization
A hospital is a health care institution providing patient treatment with specialized Medical Science, health science and auxiliary healthcare staff and medical equipment. The best-known type of hospital is the general hospital, which typically ...
. In case of hospitalization in a psychiatric hospital
Psychiatric hospitals, also known as mental health hospitals, behavioral health hospitals, are hospitals or wards specializing in the treatment of severe mental disorders, such as schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, eating disorders, dissociative ...
, the patient is placed in a ward of enhanced supervision
Supervision is an act or instance of directing, managing, or oversight.
Etymology
The English noun "supervision" derives from the two Latin words "super" (above) and "videre" (see, observe).
Spelling
The spelling is "Supervision" in Standard E ...
for the first three days, then transferred to the suicidology
Suicidology is the scientific study of suicidal behaviour, the causes of suicidalness and suicide prevention. There are many different fields and disciplines involved with suicidology, the two primary ones being psychology and sociology. Every ye ...
department. In most cases, such citizens are kept in hospital for no more than one month, in rare cases longer, but very rarely they are discharged less than a month after hospitalization.
Incitement to suicide:
Inciting someone to suicide by threats, cruel treatment, or systematic humiliation is punishable by up to 5 years in prison. (Article 110 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation
The Russian Criminal Code (russian: Уголовный кодекс Российской Федерации, frequently abbreviated УК РФ) is the prime source of the Law of the Russian Federation concerning criminal offences. The 1996 Crim ...
)
prescribes censorship of information about methods of suicide on the Internet. According to a website created by the Pirate Party of Russia
)
, website pirate-party.ru
The Pirate Party of Russia (PPR; russian: Пиратская партия России; ППР; ''Piratskaya partiya Rossii'', ''PPR'') is a political party in Russia based on the model of the Swedish Pirate Party. It ...
, some pages with suicide jokes have been blacklisted
Blacklisting is the action of a group or authority compiling a blacklist (or black list) of people, countries or other entities to be avoided or distrusted as being deemed unacceptable to those making the list. If someone is on a blacklist, t ...
, which may have led to blocking of an IP address of Wikia
Fandom (formerly known as Wikicities before 2007 and later Wikia before 2019) is a wiki hosting service that hosts wikis mainly on entertainment topics (i.e. video games, TV series, movies, entertainers, etc.). Its domain is operated by Fandom, ...
. See also: Dumb Ways to Die#Censorship in Russia.
Singapore
Suicide has been decriminalised since 5 May 2019, with the passing of the Criminal Law Reform Act, which repealed Section 309 of the Singapore Penal Code. The law took effect on 1 January 2020.
South Africa
South African courts, including the Appellate Division, have ruled that suicide and attempted suicide are not crimes under the Roman-Dutch law
Roman-Dutch law (Dutch: ''Rooms-Hollands recht'', Afrikaans: ''Romeins-Hollandse reg'') is an uncodified, scholarship-driven, and judge-made legal system based on Roman law as applied in the Netherlands in the 17th and 18th centuries. As such, it ...
, or that if they ever were crimes, they have been abrogated by disuse. Attempted suicide was from 1886 to 1968 a crime in the Transkei
Transkei (, meaning ''the area beyond he riverKei''), officially the Republic of Transkei ( xh, iRiphabliki yeTranskei), was an unrecognised state in the southeastern region of South Africa from 1976 to 1994. It was, along with Ciskei, a Ban ...
under the Transkeian Territories Penal Code.
United Kingdom
England and Wales
Laws against suicide (and attempted suicide) prevailed in English common law
In law, common law (also known as judicial precedent, judge-made law, or case law) is the body of law created by judges and similar quasi-judicial tribunals by virtue of being stated in written opinions."The common law is not a brooding omnipresen ...
until 1961. English law perceived suicide as an immoral, criminal offence against God and also against the Crown. It first became illegal in the 13th century. Until 1822, in fact, the possessions of somebody who died of suicide could even be forfeited to the Crown.
Suicide ceased to be a criminal offence with the passing of the Suicide Act 1961
The Suicide Act 1961 (9 & 10 Eliz 2 c 60) is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It decriminalised the act of suicide in England and Wales so that those who failed in the attempt to kill themselves would no longer be prosecuted.
Th ...
; the same Act made it an offence to assist in a suicide. With respect to civil law the simple act of suicide is lawful but the consequences of dying by suicide might turn an individual event into an unlawful act, as in the case of Reeves v Commissioners of Police of the Metropolis 000
Triple zero, Triple Zero, Zero Zero Zero, Triple 0, Triple-0, 000, or 0-0-0 may refer to:
* 000 (emergency telephone number), the Australian emergency telephone number
* "Triple Zero", a song by AFI (band), AFI from ''Shut Your Mouth and Open Your ...
1 AC 360, where a man in police custody hanged himself and was held equally liable with the police (a cell door defect enabled the hanging) for the loss suffered by his widow; the practical effect was to reduce the police damages liability by 50%. In 2009, the House of Lords ruled that the law concerning the treatment of people who accompanied those who died of assisted suicide was unclear, following Debbie Purdy's case that this lack of clarity was a breach of her human rights. (In her case, as someone with multiple sclerosis, she wanted to know whether her husband would be prosecuted for accompanying her abroad where she might eventually wish to die of assisted suicide, if her illness progressed.)
Scotland
Suicide directly involving only the deceased person is not by itself a criminal offence under Scots Law and has not been in recent history. However, attempting suicide might be a Breach of the peace
Breach of the peace, or disturbing the peace, is a legal term used in constitutional law in English-speaking countries and in a public order sense in the several jurisdictions of the United Kingdom. It is a form of disorderly conduct.
Public ord ...
if it is not done as a private act; this is routinely reported in the case of persons threatening suicide in areas frequented by the public. The Suicide Act 1961 applies only to England and Wales but under Scots Law
Scots law () is the legal system of Scotland. It is a hybrid or mixed legal system containing civil law and common law elements, that traces its roots to a number of different historical sources. Together with English law and Northern Ireland l ...
a person who assists a suicide might be charged with murder, culpable homicide
Culpable homicide is a categorisation of certain offences in various jurisdictions within the Commonwealth of Nations which involves the illegal killing of a person either with or without an intention to kill depending upon how a particular j ...
, or no offence depending upon the facts of each case. Despite not being a criminal offence, consequential liability upon the person attempting suicide (or if successful, his/her estate) might arise under civil law where it parallels the civil liabilities recognised in the (English Law) Reeves case mentioned above.
United States
In the United States of America, some topics are determined by federal law whereas others differ across states. The information on suicide prevention legislation will be discussed at the federal level first and will be followed by those states that have some form of legislation.
Historically, various states listed the act of suicide as a felony, but these policies were sparsely enforced. In the late 1960s, 18 U.S. states had no laws against suicide. By the late 1980s, 30 of the 50 states had no laws against suicide or suicide attempts, but every state had laws declaring it to be a felony to aid, advise, or encourage another person to suicide. By the early 1990s only two states still listed suicide as a crime, and these have since removed that classification. In some U.S. states, suicide is still considered an unwritten "common law crime
Common law offences are crimes under English criminal law, the related criminal law of some Commonwealth countries, and under some U.S. State laws. They are offences under the common law, developed entirely by the law courts, having no specific ...
," as stated in ''Blackstone's Commentaries
The ''Commentaries on the Laws of England'' are an influential 18th-century treatise on the common law of England by Sir William Blackstone, originally published by the Clarendon Press at Oxford, 1765–1770. The work is divided into four volume ...
''. (So held the Virginia Supreme Court
The Supreme Court of Virginia is the highest court in the Commonwealth of Virginia. It primarily hears direct appeals in civil cases from the trial-level city and county circuit courts, as well as the criminal law, family law and administrative ...
in 1992. ''Wackwitz v. Roy'', 418 S.E.2d 861 (Va. 1992)). As a common law crime, suicide can bar recovery for the late suicidal person's family in a lawsuit unless the suicidal person can be proven to have been "of unsound mind." That is, the suicide must be proven to have been an involuntary act of the victim in order for the family to be awarded monetary damages by the court. This can occur when the family of the deceased sues the caregiver (perhaps a jail or hospital) for negligence in failing to provide appropriate care. Some American legal scholars look at the issue as one of personal liberty. According to Nadine Strossen
Nadine Strossen (born August 18, 1950) is an American civil liberties activist who was president of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) from February 1991 to October 2008. A liberal feminist, she was the first woman to ever lead the ACLU. A ...
, former President of the ACLU
The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) is a nonprofit organization founded in 1920 "to defend and preserve the individual rights and liberties guaranteed to every person in this country by the Constitution and laws of the United States". T ...
, "The idea of government making determinations about how you end your life, forcing you...could be considered cruel and unusual punishment
Cruel and unusual punishment is a phrase in common law describing punishment that is considered unacceptable due to the suffering, pain, or humiliation it inflicts on the person subjected to the sanction. The precise definition varies by jurisd ...
in certain circumstances, and Justice Stevens
John Paul Stevens (April 20, 1920 – July 16, 2019) was an American lawyer and jurist who served as an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States from 1975 to 2010. At the time of his retirement, he was the second-olde ...
in a very interesting opinion in a right-to-die
The right to die is a concept based on the opinion that human beings are entitled to end their life or undergo voluntary euthanasia. Possession of this right is often understood that a person with a terminal illness, incurable pain, or without ...
ase
Ase may refer to:
* Ase, Nigeria, a town in Delta State, Nigeria
* -ase, a suffix used for the names of enzymes
* Aṣẹ, a West African philosophical concept
* American Sign Language (ISO 639-3 code: ase)
See also
* Åse (disambiguation)
* ...
raised the analogy."
Physician-assisted suicide is legal in some states. For the terminally ill, it is legal in the state of Oregon
Oregon () is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. The Columbia River delineates much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while the Snake River delineates much of it ...
under the Oregon Death with Dignity Act
Measure 16 of 1994 established the U.S. state of Oregon's Death with Dignity Act (ORS 127.800–995), which legalizes medical aid in dying (commonly referred to as physician-assisted suicide) with certain restrictions. Passage of this initiativ ...
. In Washington state, it became legal in 2009, when a law modeled after the Oregon act, the Washington Death with Dignity Act
Initiative 1000 (I-1000) of 2008 established the U.S. state of Washington's Death with Dignity Act ( RCW 70.245), which legalizes medical aid in dying with certain restrictions. Passage of this initiative made Washington the second U.S. state to ...
was passed. A patient must be diagnosed as having less than six months to live, be of sound mind, make a request orally and in writing, have it approved by two different doctors, then wait 15 days and make the request again. A doctor may prescribe a lethal dose of a medication but may not administer it.
In California, medical facilities are empowered or required to commit anyone whom they believe to be suicidal for evaluation and treatment.
In Maryland
Maryland ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It shares borders with Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware and the Atlantic Ocean to ...
, it is an open question as to whether suicide is illegal. In 2018, a Maryland man was convicted of attempted suicide
A suicide attempt is an attempt to die by suicide that results in survival. It may be referred to as a "failed" or "unsuccessful" suicide attempt, though these terms are discouraged by mental health professionals for implying that a suicide resu ...
.
In New York State
New York, officially the State of New York, is a state in the Northeastern United States. It is often called New York State to distinguish it from its largest city, New York City. With a total area of , New York is the 27th-largest U.S. stat ...
in 1917, while suicide was "a grave public wrong", an attempt to commit suicide was a felony, punishable by a maximum penalty of two years' imprisonment.
Federal legislation
Back in 2004, Congress passed the Garrett --> Lee Smith Memorial Act (GLSMA) . The GLSMA made federal funding available for the first time to states, tribes, and colleges across the nation to implement community-based youth and young adult suicide prevention programs. Many of these programs had goals based on the National Suicide Prevention Strategy that was designed in 2001, including increased community-based prevention and stigma reduction among others.
In October 2020, the National Suicide Hotline Designation Act came into effect. This law states that there was to be a transition from a 10-digit hotline number to a universal 3-digit hotline number, which should be familiar and recognizable to everyone. On top of that, in May 2021, the Suicide Prevention Act has passed the House, and is currently being considered by the Senate. This Act will authorize a pilot program to intensify surveillance of self-harm and establish a grant program to provide more self-harm and suicide prevention services across the country.
On July 16th 2022, the United States transitioned the National Suicide Hotline from the former 10-digit number into the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline
, linking both the National Suicide Hotline, the Veterans Crisis Line, and a network of more than 200 state and local call centers run through SAMHSA, the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration.
California
The State of California has introduced several bills related to suicide over the last couple of years, most of which are related to youth. In 2016, Assembly Bill 2246 was passed, which required school districts to have a suicide prevention policy that addresses the needs of their highest-risk pupils in grades 7 to 12. Since then, the Bill has been amended twice. First, in 2018, AB 2639 was passed, which required school districts to update their policy once every five years. Then, in 2019, AB 1767 was passed. Because of this amendment, districts serving kindergarten to 6th grade will also have to have a suicide prevention policy.
Lastly, also in 2019, the governor signed AB 984. This Bill allows people to send their excess tax payments to a special Suicide Prevention Fund. This fund is supposed to award grants and help fund crisis centers.
Utah
The State of Utah has so far passed the most bills relating to suicide prevention, with a total of 21 suicide-related bills. A large number of these bills have been for school-based suicide prevention, including suicide prevention training for all school staff (HB 501), grant awards for programs in elementary schools to increase peer-to-peer suicide prevention (HB 346), and an expanded scope to specifically include the suicide risk of youth not accepted by family, especially LGBTQ-youth (HB 393). Other bills have included topics such as increased attention for suicide prevention in substance use treatment (HB 346), bereavement services (HB 336), and suicide prevention programs related to firearm use (HB 17). Moreover, the Utah Division of Substance Abuse and Mental Health (DSAMH) has Zero Suicides as one of their policies, using this as a framework to guide their actions.
See also
*Legality of euthanasia
*State-assisted suicide
*Suicide prevention#Legislation, Suicide prevention
References
External links
Large Europe majorities for assisted suicide: survey
* Should suicide be legal? - Wikidebate at Wikiversity
Abetment to Suicide
{{Suicide navbox
Legislation
Legislation is the process or result of enrolled bill, enrolling, enactment of a bill, enacting, or promulgation, promulgating laws by a legislature, parliament, or analogous Government, governing body. Before an item of legislation becomes law i ...
Statutory law