Suspects of so-called mercy killings or failed suicide pacts may escape murder or manslaughter charges under new official guidance published on Thursday.
The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) updated its homicide guidance, advising prosecutors not to pursue charges under certain circumstances such as when a victim had recently begged to be killed.
The CPS also set out factors tending in favour of prosecution, for instance, when a suspect pressured a victim into the decision.
Under British law, there is no definition of “mercy killing.” Any intentional killing is murder regardless of whether a victim wants to die.
However, not all crimes are prosecuted. Under CPS rules, suspects will only be prosecuted when there’s sufficient evidence to support a “realistic prospect of conviction” against each defendant on each charge, and when prosecution is needed in the public interest.
New Guidance
In the updated guidance, the CPS listed 13 public interest factors tending in favour of prosecution and seven factors tending against prosecution.
A suspect may escape charges if evidence shows the victim was an adult with the freedom and capacity to reach a “voluntary, clear, settled, and informed decision that they wished for their life to end” and when the decision had been made without influence “sufficiently close in time to their death.”
The suspect must be motivated “by compassion alone” and the victim must not have the ability to take their own life.
Another mitigating factor is when the suspect’s actions are “characterised as reluctant, in the face of significant emotional pressure due to the victim’s wish for their life to end.”
A suspect who made “a genuine attempt to take their own life at the same time,” reported the death to the police, and fully cooperated with the police may also also avoid prosecution.
However, a prosecution is “likely to be required” if the victim was under 18, unknown to the suspect, did not have the mental capacity to make an informed decision to request another person to end their life, or had been pressured into the decision.
If a suspect has something to gain from the victim’s death, has a history of violence or abuse against the victim, or deliberately used excessive violence or force causing unnecessary or prolonged suffering, he or she will likely be prosecuted.
Medical professionals who kill their patients will also likely be prosecuted regardless of their motives.
The update came after a 12-week consultation, which Mr. Hill said was a “very useful exercise.”
“We have made a number of changes to our guidance, but it doesn’t follow from that that I’m predicting fewer cases going to court or fewer charges of murder,” he said.
“It is murder to kill another person even when you are carrying out the wishes of another person,” he stressed.
“So my strong message is that the public interest in charging homicide cases and taking them to court is very high and remains so even after we publish this guidance and there are going to be circumstances, even going through the extra content of the code, where a prosecutor should conclude that the case will go ahead and any consideration of mercy is for the court and not the prosecution.
“Having said that, I think that we wanted to make it more clear about what sort of reasons a prosecutor might consider making it necessary to prosecute or, in the rare case, saying that it isn’t actually necessary to prosecute.”
