CPS considering 13 suspected cases of assisted dying in England and Wales | Assisted dying
Thirteen cases of suspected assisted dying are being considered by prosecutors in England and Wales, according to the latest data.
It is against the law in England and Wales under the Suicide Act 1961 to encourage or assist another person’s suicide or attempted suicide.
The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) said its latest data showed 209 cases registered as assisted deaths were referred to it by police between April 1, 2009, and March 31 this year.
This was up from the 199 cases referred by the end of March last year.
The CPS said 131 of 209 cases were not taken forward by prosecutors and 42 cases were withdrawn by police.
He added that over the course of two decades, six cases of abetment or aiding death have been successfully prosecuted and two cases have been charged and acquitted after trial.
The service added that eight cases were referred for prosecution for murder or other serious crimes rather than the crime of assisted death.
The CPS said on its website: “These types of cases (suspected assisted dying) are inherently complex and sensitive, not least because of the tragic events surrounding them.
“The behavior in these cases can range from situations where the victim is pressured to end his or her life, to actions motivated entirely by compassion.”
He added that CPS guidance for prosecutors in such cases “includes certain public interest factors for and against prosecution.”
The latest data comes as the Westminster bill proposing to legalize assisted dying continues to be debated but is likely to be out of time before it becomes law.
The terminally ill adults (end of life) bill, which passed the House of Commons last year, was the subject of days of debate by colleagues in the House of Lords.
Proposals to allow terminally ill adults resident in England and Wales to apply for assisted dying for at least 12 months, subject to the approval of two doctors and an expert panel, will be declared dead if they do not go through all parliamentary stages before the end of the current session in the coming weeks.
A man who accompanied his wife to the Dignitas clinic in Switzerland after the latest CPS figures were published told how he faced a police investigation when he returned home and spoke of the “additional stress and danger” he endured.
Dave Sowry, board member of pro-change campaign group My Death, My Decision, said: “In my case the police decided to take no further action.
“What kind of country do we live in where accompanying someone who has made a personal choice at the end of their life results in so much additional stress and danger?”
But Care Not Killing, which opposes the law change, previously said: “The political priority should be to give patients real choice through world-class hospice care, rather than turning doctors into executioners because palliative care is too difficult and costly to get right.
“As we have said many times, we urgently need much more care, not killing.”
