Campaigners say changes to suicide law not enough

Campaigners have said that tightening the wording of the Suicide Act is unlikely to lead to the prosecution of those using the internet to promote suicide.

Although they welcomed the Government's proposal to revise the wording as a “big step forward”, they are concerned that fundamentally the Act takes no account of the way the internet works. People can not only get advice online on how to commit suicide but chat to those who actively urge others to take their own life without people having to meet face to face.

Paul Kelly, trustee of national charity Papyrus said: “It is a welcome step and hopefully will make internet service providers (ISPs) realise their moral duty to take down these sites.

"But I doubt even with the wording being clarified it will change the fact that there have been no successful prosecutions in the UK. Judges will just throw cases out as they do now, saying there is not enough evidence and people have not met face to face. The whole law needs looking at in light of modern technology.”

The announcement yesterday that the Government will revise the wording follows huge public concern about the number of websites and chatrooms where suicide is acitvely encouraged. Under the Suicide Act of 1961, it is an offence to "aid, abet, counsel or procure" a suicide.

However, courts have ruled in the past that the simple provision of information about committing suicide would not open a publisher to prosecution. Although most sites are hosted outside the UK, ISPs have been reluctant to take down those sites that are hosted in the UK. There have also been concerns about freedom of speech.

Child psychologist Tanya Byron’s recent report for the Government, Safer Children In a Digital World, also said there was some confusion about the application of the law to relating online activity.

Now the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) has said that by amending the wording of the Act, it will be easier for website hosts to remove offending material.

Maria Eagle, Justice Minister said: "There is no magic solution to protecting vulnerable people online.

"Updating the language of the Suicide Act, however, should help to reassure people that the internet is not a lawless environment and that we can meet the challenges of the digital world.

"It is important, particularly in an area of such wide public interest and concern, for the law to be expressed in terms that everyone can understand.”

What terms these will be have yet to be decided on. The Law Commission proposed two years ago that the language of section 2 of the Act be updated by using the words “assists or encourages” suicide, or attempted suicide.

However, a representative for the MoJ said: “We do not yet know what the wording will be as we are having ongoing discussions with all the stakeholders including internet service providers, other Government departments and the new UK Council on Child Internet Safety (UKCCIS). During these discussions we will also look at ways the law can be enforced.”

Mr Kelly said he was also keen to see how the Government plans to enforce the law in the UK and what steps it may suggest to tackle sites hosted outside UK jurisdiction.

“They are talking about barring access to sites based outside the UK but I don’t see how that will happen. They should think about working with other countries to introduce an international law,” Mr Kelly said.

No deadline has been set for when the changes will be put into effect, but Maria Eagle said she hoped they would be in force by next year.