Ballot Initiative // Current

Would you help a loved one die?

"Prosecutors fear a high court judgment today will lead to the first criminal cases against people who helped their terminally ill relatives to die.

They believe that efforts by Debbie Purdy, a terminally ill MS sufferer who has asked the director of public prosecutions (DPP) to clarify the law, could end the practice of turning a blind eye to the growing number of Britons travelling abroad to clinics where they help their relatives die.

More than 90 UK citizens have travelled abroad with relatives to countries where assisted suicide is legal. Although many of these cases have been investigated by the police, none has been prosecuted.

Sources close to the Crown Prosecutions Service (CPS) say officials are privately reluctant to bring criminal proceedings in such cases. However, campaigners say Purdy's attempts to seek clarification of CPS policy represent a "high risk strategy" which may compel prosecutors to take a tougher line. "If the DPP does publish guidelines it will make it more likely that the decision will be made to prosecute," said David Matthew, a leading barrister who prosecutes criminal cases. "All cases where people die are taken very seriously. It's difficult for a prosecutor to shut off a whole area from prosecuting."

Sir Ken Macdonald, the outgoing DPP, has said he would not be willing to publish guidelines granting immunity from prosecution in assisted suicide cases. "It's for parliament to decide what the law should be and we operate according to the legislation," a spokesperson for the DPP said. "We are awaiting the judgment and if parliament wants to look at the law then that's a matter for parliament."

While the law continues to make assisting suicide a criminal offence, lawyers say the CPS may have no choice but to prosecute.

"Any further guidelines may prove restrictive," said John Cooper, a barrister who has written about the state of the law on suicide. "It may also result in prosecutions, which might not be in the public interest."

The law makes assisting the suicide of another, including a terminally ill friend or relative, a crime carrying a sentence of up to 14 years' imprisonment. It is legal in other jurisdictions, including Switzerland, Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg and the US state of Oregon.

Purdy fears that if her husband travels with her to Switzerland to assist in her suicide, he could be prosecuted on his return. "It is important that the law and the DPP's policy should be clarified," said Saimo Chahal, her lawyer. "There are many other people in the same situation. They should know what the consequences of their actions will be."

The issue came to the fore last month when it was revealed that a 23-year-old, Daniel James, had been helped to travel to Switzerland to end his life. James, paralysed from the chest down since March last year after a rugby scrum collapsed on top of him, ended his life at the Dignitas clinic on September 12, accompanied by his parents. Prosecutors are considering whether they should face criminal charges. Campaigners say the absence of clear guidelines enables prosecutors to take a compassionate stance by deeming it not in the public interest to prosecute. "As things stand, relatives are not being prosecuted for assisting suicide," Nan Maitland, a campaigner for Friends at the End, said. "This might change in future if the CPS are forced to outline a clear policy".

Attempts to legalise assisted suicide in Britain have been rejected. The most recent, in 2006, was defeated in the House of Lords by 148 votes to 100.""Prosecutors fear a high court judgment today will lead to the first criminal cases against people who helped their... more