[UPDATED] Moratorium on suicide penalties needed until decriminalisation completed: Azalina

KUALA LUMPUR – The government is proposing a moratorium on Section 309 of the Penal Code that punishes attempts to commit suicide until all amendment bills to decriminalise such attempts are passed and gazetted. 

“Decriminalising attempts to commit suicide is one of the Madani government’s efforts to prevent suicide attempts and, it is hoped, to help those suffering come forward to receive help – thereby abolishing the stigma,” Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Datuk Seri Azalina Othman Said said in a press statement today. 

Section 309 of the Penal Code states that a person attempting to commit suicide faces imprisonment of up to one year, a fine, or both. 

Azalina said the moratorium imposed until attempted suicide is decriminalised would ease the work of enforcement officials and prosecutors. 

Her statement today was to explain amendments to bills that will decriminalise suicide, which are being tabled in the Dewan Rakyat today for first reading.

The amendment bills tabled are the Penal Code (Amendment) Bill 2023, the Criminal Procedure Code (Amendment) Bill 2023 and the Mental Health (Amendment) Bill 2023.

Besides decriminalising Section 309 of the Penal Code, Sections 305 and 306 will also be amended to criminalise the abetting of attempted suicide of children and those who lack mental capacity, with stiffer penalties.

“Stronger punishment is proposed for suicide cases involving children and mentally incapacitated persons, compared to other victims, as these groups are exposed to situations and conditions where they can be easily influenced and manipulated,” the law and institutional reforms minister said.

In the bill, which can now be downloaded from Parliament’s website, the proposed penalty for abetting a suicide or an attempted suicide is imprisonment for up to 20 years, as well as a fine.

This penalty will apply to those who abet the suicide or attempted suicide of a “child or person who lacks mental capacity”, which is defined as lacking the capacity to understand the consequences of committing or attempting to commit suicide due to “unsoundness of mind, mental disorder, intoxication, or under the influence of any drug or other substance”.

Azalina added that the government would have crisis intervention officers who will be given powers of arrest under the Mental Health Act to manage suicide attempts. – The Vibes, March 4, 2023