Euthanasia Legislative Clarification

Euthanasia: some legislative clarification has long been due

‘Euthanasia’ (also known as ‘assisted suicide’ or ‘mercy killing’) refers to an act of killing an incurably ill person out of concern and compassion for that person's suffering . Euthanasia is perhaps one of the most controversial and debated topics for raising political, legal and religious questions. In the United Kingdom, euthanasia is illegal by virtue of section 2 of the Suicide Act 1961. But some of the UK’s European neighbours have legalised euthanasia where many British citizens have travelled to in order to commit suicide . Some accompanying family members were charged under the 1961 Act, but the charges were later dropped. Consequently, the law on this area has been thrown

It clarifies the factors to be considered before prosecuting for encouraging and assisting suicide and in that it can be viewed as a victory for Purdy. The Policy, one may say, clarifies the confusion about whether or not prosecution will follow. For example, it states that prosecution is unlikely where the actions of the suspect, although sufficient to come within the definition of the offence, were of only minor encouragement or assistance; or where the suspect was wholly motivated by compassion; or where the victim had reached a voluntary, clear, settled and informed decision to commit suicide etc . On the other hand, where the victim is under the age consent or lacks the mental capacity to reach an informed decision to commit suicide, or where the suspect has a history of violence or abuse against the victim or has some pecuniary interests then prosecution might be in the public interest . But the problem is, as the Policy itself states, the lists of public interest factors are not exhaustive. It is also unclear how much weight is to be given to a particular factor. Further, what if multiple factors are present both for and against prosecution? Confusions the Policy potentially makes can be better illustrated by an example involving A and his wife B who is suffering from MND and who also owns a house jointly with her husband. Notably, the

At this point, however, it is also clear that not every possible breach will attract prosecution and prosecution will only follow if the DPP thinks it is in the interest of the public. But has not a ‘double-standard’ been created within the law? The answer, in my opinion, is definitely yes. But the law must not be allowed to let someone go, and in some other times to prosecute another for the sake of so-called public interest when both of them have done the same things in question. The euthanasia law, I consider, is giving too much weight to public interest instead of actual culpability and this really makes the constitutional framework of the criminal justice system questionable