Decriminalising suicide: Proposed legal amendments to be submitted to Cabinet soon, says Wan Junaidi

KUALA LUMPUR: A study on proposed amendments to the law to enable the decriminalisation of suicide attempts is almost finished and will be submitted to the Cabinet for approval thereafter, says Datuk Seri Dr Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar (pic).

The Minister in the Prime Minister's Department in charge of laws said besides removing suicide attempts from the criminal justice system, people who attempted suicide will be also be put in the healthcare system.

He said the government had, via the Attorney General’s Chambers (AGC), taken the initiative to study laws related to attempted suicide and abetment of such attempts, which are both currently criminal offences in Malaysia.

The government had taken this initiative due to statistics showing the growing number of attempted suicides across all ages, especially during this present time owing to unfavourable economic conditions, said Wan Junaidi, adding that a more holistic approach was needed.

“Based on the findings of the study, the AGC has examined the available legal options as well as the legal implications if the offence of attempted suicide is removed from the criminal justice system.

“In addition, the AGC has also examined the need to amend other related laws in order to avoid loopholes if the offence of attempted suicide is removed from the criminal justice system.

“The study covering the proposed amendments to the law has almost been finalised and will be submitted to the Cabinet for approval,” said Wan Junaidi in a written parliamentary reply on Tuesday (Mar 7).

This was in response to a question by Dr Kelvin Yii (PH-Bandar Kuching) who asked the Prime Minister to state the progress of the government's commitment to amend Section 309 of the Penal Code to decriminalise attempted suicide.

Wan Junaidi also said that the study undertaken by the government had done a comparison on laws regarding attempted suicide in countries such as the United Kingdom, New Zealand, India and Singapore.

It was found that those countries have removed suicide attempts from the criminal justice system and included people who attempted suicide into the healthcare system, he said.

“Therefore, the AGC has considered proposals from stakeholders to remove suicide attempts from the criminal justice system and include those who attempted suicide into the healthcare system,” he said.