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22/09/2009
Assisted suicide guidance due |
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New guidance is due to be released on the legal position regarding those who help people commit assisted suicide in countries where the practice is permitted.
The director of public prosecutions Keir Starmer is to publish details this week clarifying the situation in England and Wales, following a High Court Case in July that has obliged ministers to make the position clear.
Mr Starmer told the BBC: "What we're doing this week is to clarify when individuals are more likely to be prosecuted or more unlikely to be prosecuted."
Over 100 Britons have travelled to Switzerland to end their lives at the Dignitas clinic and it is technically possible for anyone helping someone to go there to face up to 14 years in jail.
Such a ruling could have ramifications for people's wills, which may need the help of a lawyer versed in will drafting to help alter the document in the light of the legal clarification.
Last month, Conservative MP and opponent of euthanasia Nadine Dorries responded to the High Court ruling by saying she would bring a private members bill to specify "that assisting suicide is an illegal act".
Written by Laurence Smith
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