Suicide legislation

Suicide is a crime in some parts of the world.^[1] However, while suicide has been decriminalized in many countries, the act is almost universally stigmatized and discouraged. In some contexts, suicide could be utilized as an extreme expression of liberty, as is exemplified by its usage as an expression of devout dissent towards perceived tyranny or injustice which occurred occasionally in cultures such as ancient Rome, medieval Japan, or today's Tibet Autonomous Region.

While a person who has died by suicide is beyond the reach of the law, there can still be legal consequences regarding treatment of the corpse or the fate of the person's property or family members. The associated matters of assisting a suicide and attempting suicide have also been dealt with by the laws of some jurisdictions. Some countries criminalise suicide attempts.

History

In ancient Athens, a person who had died by suicide (without the approval of the state) was denied the honours of a normal burial. The person would be buried alone, on the outskirts of the city, without a headstone or marker.^[2]

A criminal ordinance issued by Louis XIV in 1670 intended to be far more severe in its "punishment" ritual of an obviously-already-dead body: their corpse was drawn through the streets, face down, and then hung or thrown on a garbage heap. Additionally, all of the person's property was confiscated; this measure was intended to deter suicide by punishing their heirs financially.^[3]

The Interments (felo de se) Act 1882 abolished the legal requirement in England of burying suicides at crossroads.^[a]^[4]

Assisted suicide

In many jurisdictions, it is a crime to assist others, directly or indirectly, in taking their own lives. Such legislation requires manufacturers of weapons to refuse sales to those deemed at potential risk of suicide. In some jurisdictions, it is also illegal to encourage people to attempt suicide, though the classification of the crime and its punishment varies. Sometimes an exception applies for physician assisted suicide, under strict conditions.

Laws in individual jurisdictions (table)

Africa

Country/region	Legality			Penalty	Notes
Country/region	Suicide	Physician-assisted suicide	Voluntary euthanasia	Penalty	Notes
Algeria	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown
Angola	Legal	Illegal	Illegal	Article 141. (Instigation or help to murder) Whoever instigates another person to commit suicide and this is consummated or actually tried shall be punished with imprisonment penalty up to 3 years. Whoever, in the same circumstances, is limited to provide assistance to the person who decided to commit suicide shall be punished with imprisonment up to 2 years or a fine of up to 240 days.	^[5]
Botswana	Legal	Illegal	Illegal	Article 207. Suicide pacts (1) It shall be manslaughter, and shall not be murder, for a person acting in pursuance of a suicide pact between him and another to kill the other or be a party to the other killing himself or being killed by a third person. (2) Where it is shown that a person charged with the murder of another killed the other or was a party to his killing himself or being killed, it shall be for the defence to prove that the person charged was acting in pursuance of a suicide pact between him and the other. (3) For the purposes of this section, "suicide pact" means a common agreement between two 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. Article 222. Aiding suicide Any person who (a) procures another to kill himself; (b) counsels another to kill himself and thereby induces him to do so; or (c) aids another in killing himself, is guilty of an offence and is liable to imprisonment for life.

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