Distinguishing Between the Crime of Inciting or Facilitating Suicide and the Criminal Offense of Homicide

Abstract: The two offenses result in the death of a person, except where the offense of incitement or facilitation of suicide results in an attempted suicide. Sometimes, in practice, the manner of commission is very similar and it is difficult to establish the correct legal classification, so that it can be accurately determined whether a particular situation falls within one of the two offences, the line of demarcation being very fine. This scientific approach aims to delimit these crimes, specifying that incitement or facilitation of suicide is not assisted suicide, particularly given the dual nature of suicide, as defined in the “texting suicide case” (Commonwealth v. Carter, 52 N.E.3d 1054, 1056–57 (Mass. 2016)) where suicide is seen both as harm to be prevented and as an individual choice to be respected. This raises the question of where the line should be drawn between determining or facilitating suicide and murder, and what the standards of foreseeability should be. Keywords: Criminal Law, Determining or Facilitating Suicide, Murder