Suicide Flashcards
Legislation
Sections 179 and 180 deal with suicide and suicide pacts.
179 Aiding and abetting suicide
Every one is liable to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 14 years who—
(a) Incites, counsels, or procures any person to commit suicide, if that person commits or attempts to commit suicide in consequence thereof; or
(b) Aids or abets any person in the commission of suicide.
180 Suicide pact
(1) Every one who in pursuance of a suicide pact kills any other person is guilty of manslaughter and not of murder, and is liable accordingly.
(2) Where 2 or more persons enter into a suicide pact, and in pursuance of it one or more of them kills himself, any survivor is guilty of being a party to a death under a suicide pact contrary to this subsection and is liable to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 5 years; but he shall not be convicted of an offence against section 179 of this Act.
(3) For the purposes of this section the term suicide pact means a common agreement between 2 or more persons having for its object the death of all of them, whether or not each is to take his own life; but nothing done by a person who enters into a suicide pact shall be treated as done by him in pursuance of the pact unless it is done
while he has the settled intention of dying in pursuance of the pact.
Aiding and abetting suicide
The actions of the defendant closely follows the wording of the legislation contained within s66 of the Crimes Act 1961 in relation to parties. There is a requirement to “do something” in one of the specified ways in order to assist the suicide of another.
Example:
A person giving a tetraplegic an overdose of sleeping pills on the latter person’s request.
Culpability of Another person
Section 179 makes it an offence for a person (Person A) to assist another person (Person B) to commit suicide without any intention of Person A committing suicide themselves. For example, when a terminally ill person (Person B) asks their partner to help them commit suicide and their partner (Person A) does. Person A would be liable for aiding and abetting suicide, which has a maximum penalty of 14 years imprisonment.
Section 180(1) makes it an offence to enter into a suicide pact, and only one person dies as a result of an action by another person. For example if Person A and Person B enter a suicide pact, and Person A shoots Person B, killing Person B, before shooting themselves, but Person A lives, then Person A would be guilty of manslaughter, and not murder. Section 180(2) makes it an offence for two people to enter into a suicide pact, where they are both responsible for the actions that caused one of their deaths (Person A), and where one person survives (Person B). For example if Person A and Person B both self administer a high dosage of morphine and Person A dies as a result of their own actions, but Person B survives the overdose. Person B would be guilty of being a party to a death under a suicide pact and is liable to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 5 years. Person B cannot be convicted of an offence under s. 179 of the Crimes Act (Aiding and Abetting Suicide).
