By Ashley Young-
The Crown Prosecution Service’s (CPS) unveiled updated guidance on mercy killings and suicide pacts has drawn wide appeal in the UK
The new guidance states that there is no public interest in prosecuting individuals who assist in ending the life of someone who has made “a voluntary, clear, settled, and informed decision that they wished for their life to end.”
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The guidelines aim to give prosecutors clearer direction on how to assess the public interest in these morally and legally complex cases, emphasizing certain conditions that can sway the decision towards or against prosecution.
The decision came following a 12-week public consultation held in April 2022, and reinforces the need for a compassionate assisted dying law in the United Kingdom.
Support for legal change is wide in Britain. A sampled research of 100 people by The Eye Of Media.Com revealed a 71 % support for assisted dying, not far off an earlier finding that two-thirds of Britons support legalizing assisted dying, according to an Ipsos poll published by The Guardian in August.
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A separate YouGov poll found that 79% of disabled people in Scotland supported legalizing assisted dying.
The campaign group Dignity in Dying said its own polling showed that nearly 80% of those surveyed in England and Wales supported reforms that would offer the choice to “terminally ill, mentally competent adults”. In September 2015, the House of Commons rejected the Assisted Dying (No2) Bill.
However, Baroness Meacher’s Assisted Dying Bill passed the Lords Second Reading without a vote, and is waiting for the Committee stage to be scheduled.
Humanists UK, an organization that advocates for secular values has been championing the cause of a compassionate assisted dying law. Such legislation aims to prevent individuals from resorting to drastic and traumatic measures to relieve the suffering of their terminally ill loved ones.
The organization contends that there are significant parallels between assisted dying, mercy killings, and suicide pacts.
All three scenarios involve individuals seeking an end to physical suffering, desiring autonomy in choosing the manner, timing, and method of their death, and often entail the involvement of close friends or family members.
Rooted in the principles of compassion, empathy, and evidence-based decision-making, the updated CPS guidance seeks to assist prosecutors in weighing the public interest when dealing with suspects involved in “mercy killings” and failed suicide pacts.
The fresh guidelines outline 13 factors that if present in a suspect, would tend towards favoring prosecution.
Under circumstances where the suspect was not wholly motivated by compassion; for example if he or she was motivated by the prospect that they or a person closely connected to them stood to gain in some way from the death of the victim, the CPS would be more inclined to prosecute them.
Any evidence of pressure, coercion or control of the victim to make the decision or a failure to take reasonable steps to ensure that any other person had not pressured, coerced or controlled the victim, would also meet the threshold for prosecution under the new guidelines.
Key amendments to public interest factors against prosecution include:
The victim had reached a voluntary, clear, settled, and informed decision to end their life.
The suspect’s actions may be characterized as reluctant, stemming from significant emotional pressure due to the victim’s wish to end their life.
Common
Last year, a UK coroner noted that suicide pacts and mercy killings were becoming increasingly common in the absence of a compassionate assisted dying law.
This pressing concern has prompted the Health and Social Care Committee to initiate an inquiry into assisted dying, with a report scheduled for publication by the year’s end.
In the United Kingdom, encouraging or assisting suicide is a crime with a maximum penalty of 14 years, although prosecutions are infrequent, and clear guidance exists for prosecutors.
Nathan Stilwell, an Assisted Dying Campaigner with Humanists UK, emphasized the urgency of the matter, stating, “It’s overwhelmingly clear that there is no public interest in prosecuting innocent people who are forced to take drastic and traumatic measures just to give their loved ones the compassionate choice that they want at the end of their lives.”
Stilwell expressed hope that individuals in the UK facing terminal illness or unbearable suffering would soon have the rights they deserve, enabling them to make choices regarding their end-of-life care.
The goal is to prevent people from being pushed into suicide pacts and mercy killings, especially when evidence from other countries demonstrates that assisted dying laws can be compassionate, safe, and effective.
As the Health and Social Care Committee prepares to release its findings, the CPS’s updated guidance marks a significant step toward addressing the complex ethical and legal dilemmas surrounding end-of-life decisions.
The conversation about compassionate choices and the right to a dignified death is likely to continue evolving in the years ahead.
Director of Public Prosecutions Max Hill KC said: “I am grateful to all those who took the time to consider the draft guidance and send in their views on this sensitive and emotive topic.
“Each response was carefully reviewed and considered, and those views have been used to reflect on our proposed approach to the guidance.
“It is vital our prosecutors are given the clearest possible additional guidance to make decisions on whether the legal test for criminal charges has been met in these complex cases.
“A prosecution will usually take place unless the prosecutor is satisfied that there are public interest factors tending against prosecution which outweigh those tending in favour. Each case must be considered on its own facts and on its own merits.
“Prosecutors must decide the importance of each public interest factor in the circumstances of each case and go on to make an overall assessment.
“But it is very important to note that we will always prosecute cases of murder and manslaughter where there is sufficient evidence, and it is in the public interest.”
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