Legal views of suicide

Suicide has historically been treated as a criminal matter in many parts of the world. Although a person who has successfully committed suicide might be thought to be beyond the reach of the law (since they are dead), there could still be legal consequences. The associated matters of assisting a suicide and attempting suicide are, or have been, also dealt with by the laws of some jurisdictions.

History

In ancient Athens, for example, a person who had committed 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. [Plato. "Laws", [http://classics.mit.edu/Plato/laws.9.ix.html Book IX] ] A criminal ordinance issued by Louis XIV 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. [Durkheim, Émile (1897). "Suicide". New York: The Free Press (reprint, 1997), 327. ISBN 0684836327.]

Even in modern times, legal penalties for committing suicide have not been uncommon. By 1879, English law had begun to distinguish between suicide and homicide, though suicide still resulted in forfeiture of estate. Also, the deceased were permitted daylight burial in 1882.Fact|date=July 2008

Assisted suicide

In many jurisdictions it is a crime to assist others, directly or indirectly, to take their own life, or, in some jurisdictions, to even encourage them to do so. Sometimes an exception applies for physician assisted suicide (PAS), under strict conditions; see Euthanasia.

Laws in individual jurisdictions

Australia (Victoria)

In the Australian state of Victoria, while suicide itself is no longer a crime, a survivor of a suicide pact can be charged with manslaughter. Also, it is a crime to counsel, incite, or aid and abet another to attempt or commit suicide, and the law explicitly allows any person to use "such force as may reasonably be necessary" to prevent another from committing suicide.

England and Wales

Suicide (and thus also attempted suicide) was illegal under English Law but ceased to be an offence with the passing of the Suicide Act 1961; the same Act makes it an offence to assist a suicide. While the simple act of suicide is lawful the consequences of committing suicide might turn an individual event into an unlawful act, as in the case of Reeves v Commissioners of Police of the Metropolis [2000] 1 AC 360 [ [http://www.parliament.the-stationery-office.co.uk/pa/ld199899/ldjudgmt/jd990715/reeves01.htm House of Lords Judgement - Commissioners of Police for the Metropolis v. Reeves] ] , 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%.

Increasingly, the term "commit suicide" is being consciously avoided, as it implies that suicide is a crime by equating it with other acts that are "committed", such as murder or burglary.

India

In India, attempted suicide is a punishable crime by up to one year in prison and/or fine. For a brief while, the courts had repealed the section of the penal code which prohibited suicide but a recent decision of the Indian Supreme Court has upheld the constitutional validity of prohibiting suicide.

Ireland

Attempted suicide is not a criminal offence in Ireland. Assisted suicide and euthanasia are illegal however.

Netherlands

In the Netherlands, 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. (Euthanasia may be an exception. See Euthanasia in the Netherlands.)

cotland

Suicide was not an offence under Scots Law thus there was no offence committed by attempting suicide as there was in England and Wales. A person who assists a suicide might be charged with murder, culpable homicide or no offence at all depending upon the facts of each case.

ingapore

In Singapore, a person attempting to commit suicide can be imprisoned by up to one year.

United States

In the United States, suicide has never been punished as a crime nor penalized by property forfeiture or ignominious burial.Fact|date=February 2007 Historically, various states listed the act as a felony, but all were reluctant to enforce it. By 1963, six states still considered attempted suicide a crime (North and South Dakota, Washington, New Jersey, Nevada, and Oklahoma that repealed its law in 1976). By the early 1990s only two US 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," that is, a crime based on the law of old England as stated in Blackstone's Commentaries. (So held the Virginia Supreme Court in "Wackwitz v. Roy" in 1992.) As a common law crime, suicide can bar recovery for the family of the suicidal person 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, not voluntary, act of the victim in order for the family to be awarded money 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. [ [http://www.jaapl.org/cgi/content/full/33/2/176 On Sound and Unsound Mind: The Role of Suicide in Tort and Insurance Litigation] , "Journal of the American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law", 2005] Some legal scholars look at the issue as one of personal liberty. According to Nadine Strossen, President of the ACLU, "The idea of government making determinations about how you end your life, forcing you...could be considered cruel and unusual punishment in certain circumstances, and Justice Stevens in a very interesting opinion in a right-to-die [case] raised the analogy." [ [http://en.wikinews.org/wiki/ACLU_President_Strossen_on_religion%2C_drugs%2C_guns_and_impeaching_George_Bush#Gun_rights Interview with Nadine Strossen] , David Shankbone, "Wikinews", October 30, 2007.]

In many jurisdictions medical facilities are empowered or required to commit anyone whom they believe to be suicidal for evaluation and treatment. See Code 5150 for example.

References