Suicide is a crime in some parts of the world. 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.Plato. Laws, Book IX
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.Durkheim, Émile (1897). Suicide. New York: The Free Press (reprint, 1997), 327. .
The Interments (felo de se) Act 1882 abolished the legal requirement in England of burying suicides at crossroads.
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/regionLegalityPenaltyNotesSuicidePhysician-assisted suicideVoluntary euthanasia Suicide attempts decriminalized in March 2023. Concern grows in Kenya after alarming rise in suicide cases The Guardian, 2021 Section 327 of the Criminal Code Act in Nigeria (Attempting to commit suicide) says, "Any person who attempts to kill himself is guilty of a misdemeanor and is liable to imprisonment for one year."
North and South America Country/regionLegalityPenaltyNotesSuicidePhysician-assisted suicideVoluntary euthanasia Suicide attempts decriminalized in 2022.From Ghana to Guyana, hope mounts in fight against suicide criminalisation, 10 September 2023 (50 states and integral territories)Illegal in some states under certain circumstances |< ref https://apnews.com/article/uruguay-euthanasia-law-076a2f4d2ba5ce990e65ac4dd4798d49
Asia Country/regionLegalityPenaltyNotesSuicidePhysician-assisted suicideVoluntary euthanasia Suicide in China See reference Penalty for an attempted suicide: 3 months up to 5 years' imprisonment. According to Radio Free Asia on 5 June 2023, the North Korean regime declared suicide an "act of treason against socialism". UnknownUnknown , sections 305 and 306, section 89
Europe Country/regionLegalityPenaltyNotesSuicidePhysician-assisted suicideVoluntary euthanasia Killing a person on request by such person, or aiding or helping another person to commit suicide is punished with imprisonment of 6 months up to 5 years. A suicide attempt is punished by a fine of 500 lari. Killing somebody on request, or aiding somebody to commit suicide is punishable with imprisonment from six months up to five years. Assisted suicide is considered murder. In the Norwegian Penal Code, this falls under § 275, which states that anyone who kills another person is punished with imprisonment for 8–21 years.
In § 276 Consent from the victim: If someone with their own consent is killed or causes significant damage to their body or health, the punishment for the convicted can be set below the minimum sentence or to a milder type of punishment than that which follows from § 275.
In § 277 Complicity in suicide and in self-inflicted significant damage to body or health: Anyone who contributes to someone taking their own life is punished with imprisonment for 8–21 years, which follows from § 275.
Oceania Country/regionLegalityPenaltyNotesSuicidePhysician-assisted suicideVoluntary euthanasia
Laws of individual jurisdictions Australia Summary of laws Jurisdiction Name Laws passed Commencement dateVictoria Voluntary Assisted Dying Act 2017 29 November 2017 19 June 2019Western Australia Voluntary Assisted Dying Act 2019 19 December 2019 1 July 2021Tasmania End-of-Life Choices (Voluntary Assisted Dying) Act 2021 4 March 2021 23 October 2022Queensland Voluntary Assisted Dying Act 2021 16 September 2021 1 January 2023South Australia Voluntary Assisted Dying Act 2021 23 June 2021 31 January 2023New South Wales Voluntary Assisted Dying Act 2022 19 May 2022 28 November 2023Australian Capital Territory Voluntary Assisted Dying Act 2024 5 June 2024 3 November 2025Northern TerritoryRights of the Terminally Ill Act 2026 27 August 2026 Early 2028
Nullified law Jurisdiction Laws passed Commencement date NullifiedNorthern Territory 25 May 1995 1 July 1996 27 June 1997
Australian Capital Territory Australian Capital Territory (ACT) governments had regularly advocated for the right to legalise euthanasia-related schemes between 1997 and 2022, when the federal ban was in practice. Shortly after the federal ban was repealed, the ACT government confirmed it would seek to introduce legislation into the ACT Legislative Assembly in 2023 to permit voluntary assisted dying. A formal consultation period was opened by the government in February 2023, which culminated in a report endorsing the establishment of a voluntary assisted dying scheme, published on 29 June 2023. On 31 October 2023, the Voluntary Assisted Dying Bill 2023 was introduced into the Legislative Assembly. Under the legislation, a person would be eligible for voluntary assisted dying if they are aged over 18, seeking it voluntarily with decision-making capability, intolerably suffering an advanced-progressive condition expected to cause death, and lives local to the ACT for at least 12 months or with a significant Canberra connection. The bill was referred to a select committee for further consultation, which reported back on 29 February 2024. The committee recommended several alterations to the bill including clarifying terms such as 'advanced' and 'last stages of life'. Liberals committee members Leanne Castley and Ed Cocks recommended that the bill not be passed, describing it as "the most ideological and extreme assisted dying legislation in the country", while Greens member Andrew Braddock supported the bill and recommended it be expanded to include people with dementia who had lost individual decision-making capacity.
The legislation returned for debate in the Assembly and was passed by the chamber on 5 June 2024, with 20 votes in favour and five against. Under the finalised legislation, people will become eligible to begin the process of accessing the scheme if they are at least 18 years old and seeking voluntary assisted dying voluntarily with decision-making capability. Further, they will have to show that they are intolerably suffering an advanced, progressive condition expected to cause death and that they have been local to the ACT for at least 12 months, or have a significant Canberra connection. The individual then accesses a "multi-step request and assessment process", requiring independent assessment by two qualified health professionals. The scheme differs from the tenets of other state-based schemes, namely; patients do not need to have a specific time frame until they are expected to die, one of the two health practitioners who assess someone's eligibility may be a nurse practitioner, and patients who receive treatment in institutions (such as hospitals) that object to voluntary assisted dying will have a greater ability to access it than in the states. The legislation was notified on 19 June 2024 and went into effect on 3 November 2025.
+ Voluntary Assisted Dying Bill 2023 – Third Reading Party Votes for Votes against (10) – (9) (6) – Total (25) 20 5
New South Wales On 21 September 2017 National Party MLC Trevor Khan introduced the Voluntary Assisted Dying Bill 2017 into the New South Wales Parliament. The bill was modelled on the Oregon Death With Dignity Act, and was developed by a cross party working group that considered 72 "substantial" submissions. The bill contained what advocates labelled a "raft of safeguards" including a seven-person oversight board to review all assisted deaths. The upper house debated the bill throughout several sittings in November 2017, and on 16 November the bill was voted down 20 votes to 19.
In October 2021 independent MLA Alex Greenwich introduced the Voluntary Assisted Dying Bill into the lower house of the Parliament. The legislation was subjected to a cross-party conscience vote, after Premier and Liberal Party leader Dominic Perrottet indicated he would grant Liberal members a conscience vote. The legislation was passed in the Legislative Assembly on 26 November 2021 by 52 votes to 32, and proceeded to the Legislative Council. The bill passed the Legislative Council by 23 votes to 15 on 19 May 2022, with amendments attached, that were agreed to by the Assembly that same day. The legislation received royal assent on 27 May 2022, and went into effect 18 months thereafter (i.e: 28 November 2023). New South Wales was the last of the six Australian states to legislate assisted dying.
Under the provisions of the legislation, a person may request a voluntary assisted death from a specialist doctor, which is lodged with the Voluntary Assisted Dying Board. If the doctor is satisfied that the person has the capacity to make the decision and is doing so voluntarily and determines that the person meets the criteria (i.e: they have a terminal illness that will result in death within six months, or a neurodegenerative condition that will result in death within 12 months, and whose suffering is such that it creates a painful condition that cannot be tolerably relieved), they can approve the request. The same process must then be followed by a second independent doctor. The person may then make a written request declaring their intention to end their life, which must be witnessed by two people and then be submitted to the board. A final request must be made five days later and a review done by the first doctor, who can then apply to the Voluntary Assisted Dying Board to allow access to a substance to end their patient's life. The person may administer the relevant substance themselves or have a health practitioner do it.
Northern Territory
Euthanasia was legalised in Australia's Northern Territory, by the Rights of the Terminally Ill Act 1995. It passed the Northern Territory Legislative Assembly by a vote of 15 to 10. In August 1996 a repeal bill was brought before the Parliament but was defeated by 14 votes to 11. The law was later voided by the federal Euthanasia Laws Act 1997, which is a federal law that was in effect until 13 December 2022 and prevented parliaments of territories (Specifically the Northern Territory, the Australian Capital Territory and Norfolk Island) from legalising euthanasia or assisted dying. Before the federal override occurred, three people died through physician assisted suicide under the legislation, aided by Dr Philip Nitschke. The first person was a carpenter, Bob Dent, who died on 22 September 1996.