> > "Keith Adam" <[email protected]> writes: > > I asked my girlfriend's father who is a policeman in the UK > the reason > > for the criminality here... > > > > He believes it is because someone commiting suicide may put someone > > else's life in danger e.g. car on a railway line. > > Since the history of suicide being a criminal act goes back > at least 1000 years, that is not a reasonable explanation. In > any case, the charge of reckless endangerment (or the > equivalent) is available for such cases. I doubt that a > policeman is well acquainted with the entire history of the > legal system in any case. > > Perry > --
Oh, I wasn't trying to justify it historically. I was trying to make an observation (badly) that a statue may remain extant for reasons other than it was originally promulgated. For instance, suicide may have been a criminal act for religious reasons and then when attempted to repeal it, it may have been kept for other reasons. The current reasoning being endangerment to others. I have done some more searching, and discovered, that in the UK, it has now been abrogated as a criminal offence. Since 1961, so I am badly out of date. http://www.opsi.gov.uk/RevisedStatutes/Acts/ukpga/1961/cukpga_19610060_en_1 However, the focus, in the UK is now on assisted suicide and whether it should be treated as manslaughter (or equivalent). http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/edinburgh_and_east/7770641.stm As another subject, I have experience of police in the UK, India and Portugal. While they are expected to uphold the law as it stands, we spend a lot of time trying to decide whether those laws are *just*. Should not our ire be directed at the lawmakers rather than the law enforcers? Rgds, Keith
