The Director of Public Prosecutions Keir Starmer QC outlined draft guidance on Wednesday on the circumstances likely to lead to the arrest of an individual for helping someone to die. Starmer was asked to draw up the guidelines after multiple sclerosis sufferer Debbie Purdy won an appeal from Law Lords to have the law on assisted suicide clarified.
Under the draft policy, assisted suicide remains a criminal offence, while euthanasia clinics like Dignitas in Switzerland would still be illegal in the UK. It went into immediate effect across England and Wales and will be the subject of a 12-week consultation period before a final policy is issued early next year.
The Church of England, which has consistently voted against any change in the law on assisted suicide, was cautious in its response towards the draft policy.
“Guidance from the DPP about the application of the present law to particular circumstances has the potential to provide greater clarity and is in principle to be welcomed, so long as there can be confidence that it will not in practice lead to an erosion of respect for the present law,” it said.
“There are serious moral, ethical and practical issues to consider - for example in relation to concepts such as 'encouragement' and the nature of 'informed decision making'.
“The Church of England is therefore reserving its position on the detail of the draft guidance at this stage. Its formal submission will be made public in due course."
Catholic Archbishop Peter Smith welcomed the “important and necessary” clarifications on the legal status of assisted suicide and the responsibility of the authorities to investigate each case, but warned that any weakening of the legal protection of vulnerable people “would carry with it great dangers”.
“I would not be seeking to argue that every criminal case should be prosecuted – there can indeed be a particular combination of circumstances which will justify in a specific case a decision not to prosecute in the public interest,” he said.
