About a month ago, I posted an article on Assisted Sucide. The article was about a woman in UK who suffers from multiple sclerosis lost a legal challenge over whether her husband could be prosecuted if he helps her to commit suicide. As stated in article, Assisted suicide is illegal in many legal jurisdictions, including the United Kingdom. In England and Wales there is a possibility of up to 14 years imprisonment for anybody assisting a suicide. Nevertheless, suicide itself is legal in UK and has never been illegal under Scotland’s laws.

There are plenty of interesting development in Malaysia in regards to suicide law. Unlike our UK counterparts, suicide is illegal in this country. Section 309 of the Penal Code stated that anyone guilty of attempted suicide could face imprisonment of up to a year or fined or both. To date, this section has never been enforced by the police. According to Deputy Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Ismail Omar “…attempted suicide, as a crime, was unlike other illicit acts and needed to be dealt with delicately”. Therefore, it was remains to date as a law only. This situation however is set to change in wake of the increasing cases of attempting suicide in this country.
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