New guidance intended to clarify the law on assisted suicide does not provide any guarantee against prosecution, director of public prosecutions Keir Starmer QC warned today.

The guidance sets out the legal boundaries for people who help somebody commit suicide. It follows a ruling in the Debbie Purdy (pictured with her husband) case, where the law lords ruled that Purdy’s husband had a right to know whether he would be prosecuted if he helped her travel abroad to die.

Starmer said that the interim guidance does nothing to change the law on assisted suicide, which can carry a jail term of up to 14 years. However, no prosecutions have yet been brought for assisted suicide.

Law Society president Robert Heslett commented: 'While we welcome the further clarity given today by the DPP in relation to prosecutions in cases of assisted suicide it is now time for parliament to decide this issue once and for all. One of the key planks of the principle of the rule of law is that questions of criminal liability should ordinarily be resolved by application of the law and not the exercise of discretion by officials.'  

Saimo Chahal, solicitor for Debbie Purdy, said: 'There are no great surprises in the policy guidance issued today. Through comments made in the press, we have known for some time that the guidance will cover not just people like Debbie who intend to go to Switzerland, a country where assisted suicide is lawful, but the interim guidance will and does cover cases where assistance with suicide is given in this country. This shows forethought by the DPP and is welcome, as this is an issue which affects many people who wish to die in this country.

'The guidance sets out public interest factors in favour of and against prosecution. It quite rightly highlights the need to protect those under 18 and those who are vulnerable by virtue of age, mental illness or learning disability. Factors tending towards a prosecution in the public interest include suspects whose motivation is financial gain.

'On the other hand, the guidance makes clear that it is unlikely to be in the public interest to prosecute where the victim has a clear intention and wish to commit suicide, has a terminal illness, incurable physical disease or severe degenerative physical condition with no prospect of recovery and the suspect is motivated by compassionate reasons and is a close friend or relative of the victim.

'There are issues which need to be further clarified, for example, the position of somebody who doesn’t have a close friend or relative to help them and thus gets assistance from elsewhere. In Debbie’s case, a number of people wrote offering to help Debbie and to accompany her to Switzerland, who were motivated purely out of compassion and had nothing to gain but did not know her – so more thought needs to be given to the position of people who have no close relative or friend to assist them.'

Debbie Purdy commented: 'I am relieved that common sense has won the day. I, and many others like me, want to be able to make informed decisions about the time and manner of our death, should our suffering become unbearable. We want to know whether someone we love will be prosecuted for helping us to die, even if that assistance is simply being with us at the end. Today, and thanks to the law lords and the DPP, we can make these decisions in the knowledge of what the likely consequences will be.'

The interim guidelines are active from today, but are open for consultation until 16 December. Both can be found here.