Assisted suicide prosecutions less likely under new guidelines
Assisted suicide prosecutions less likely under new guidelines
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By Matt Hallam. |  |
Thursday, 25, Feb 2010 05:09
By Richard James.
People who help loved ones to kill themselves are less likely to face criminal proceedings under new guidelines published by the country's chief prosecutor.
Director of public prosecutions (DPP) Keir Starmer this morning set out the circumstances in which those involved with assisted suicide will avoid facing legal action.
The most significant shift under the guidelines is a new focus on the "motivation of the suspect", with the importance of compassion heavily emphasised.
Mr Starmer's recommendations state prosecution will be less likely now if someone accused of assisting in a suicide is found to have been "wholly motivated by compassion".
Other factors include a clear, voluntary decision of the 'victim'; the extent of the suspect's actions in bringing about the suicide; and the extent to which the suspect cooperates with police officers.
The guidelines state: "The critical element is the motive behind the suspect's act.
"If it is shown that compassion was the only driving force behind his or her actions, the fact that the suspect may have gained some benefit will not usually be treated as a factor tending in favour of prosecution."
Mr Starmer's guidelines for prosecutors also included considerations of the victim's age, if under 18, and the victim's mental capacity following a consultation process involving nearly 5,000 responses to the CPS.
The DPP denied the recommendations relaxed the rules on euthanasia or represented a change to the law on assisted suicide.
"It does not open the door for euthanasia," he said. "It does not override the will of parliament. What it does is to provide a clear framework for prosecutors to decide which cases should proceed to court and which should not."
Mr Starmer was forced to clarify the factors for and against prosecution by the law lords following a high-profile campaign launched by Debbie Purdy.
Mrs Purdy, who suffers from progressive multiple sclerosis, has sought greater clarification on whether her husband could be prosecuted for helping her die.
The announcement comes a day after Gordon Brown warned while the DPP was free to issue new guidelines; the law itself should not be changed.
Speaking to the Daily Telegraph on Wednesday, the prime minister said: "Let us be clear: death as an option and an entitlement, via whatever bureaucratic processes a change in the law on assisted suicide might devise, would fundamentally change the way we think about death.
"The risk of pressures - however subtle - on the frail and the vulnerable, who may for example feel their existences burdensome to others, cannot ever be entirely excluded."
The prime minister said, rather than heralding a change in the law, the new guidance could actually weaken the case for assisted suicide to be legalised.
"I believe that because of the clarification of the public interest factors now being discussed, and because of some important developments in care over recent decades, the case for a change in the law is now weaker," he said.
"I know in my heart that there is such a thing as a good death. And I believe it is our duty as a society. to use the laws we have well, rather than change them."
Sarah Wootton, chief executive of the charity Dignity in Dying, reacted to today's news saying the guidelines were a victory for "common sense and compassion".
"The DPP's guidance represents a significant breakthrough for choice and control at the end of life for those who feel they are suffering unbearably. Critically, the guidelines recognise the difference between assisting someone to die out of compassion, at their request, and a malicious or self-serving act which results in the death of another.
"The guidelines, streamlined from the interim version, are welcome in clarifying the law for prosecutors and police, but they do not change the law, something only Parliament can do. This means that law-abiding citizens are still criminalised for acting out of compassion at a loved one's request to die."
Mrs Purdy added: "I am still overwhelmed and delighted by this victory. It was the right decision by the law lords, and people I meet every day in the street tell me how glad they are that we won. Omar [her husband] and I can now get on with our lives.
"Because I will know the likely consequences of any decisions I choose to make about my death, I won't have to make those decisions early. I will continue to campaign for assisted dying to be legal in the UK."
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