Britain’s top prosecutor publishes guidance on when to take assisted suicide cases to court

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UK publishes legal guidance on assisted suicide

LONDON — Britain’s top prosecutor Thursday published guidelines on when officials should prosecute those who help others commit suicide, saying the motivation of those assisting will be the primary consideration.

Director of Public Prosecutions Keir Starmer said the new guidelines do not legalize assisted suicide and each case will be judged on its merits.

He said the new guidance will place more scrutiny on the motivation of the suspect in deciding whether to prosecute.

“The policy is now more focused on the motivation of the suspect rather than the characteristics of the victim,” he said. “The policy does not change the law on assisted suicide. It does not open the door for euthanasia.”

A person whose primary motivation is compassion is unlikely to be prosecuted, he said.

The new guidelines are similar to interim guidance provided by prosecutors last year but change the emphasis in some areas.

The morality of helping someone commit suicide is hotly debated in Britain and the new guidelines will be examined by advocates on both sides of the issue.

The issue has received wide attention in recent months because of cases in which Britons have traveled to Switzerland to end their lives in a clinic there.

The case for assisted suicide has also been boosted by best-selling author Terry Pratchett, who suffers from a rare form of early onset Alzheimer’s disease. He is advocating for the legalization of assisted suicide in some instances.

“I would like to see death as a medical procedure — in very carefully chosen cases,” Terry Pratchett told BBC television Thursday.

He said he wanted to make sure that “the people who are helped to die are the people who want to die.”

“Alzheimer’s is the continuous snipping away of yourself,” he said. “Would you look forward to that?”

Laws on assisted suicide vary throughout Europe. The U.S.-based Euthanasia Research & Guidance Organization says some countries do not specifically prohibit the practice but sometimes charge those who do it with manslaughter.