The Legality of Suicide Tourism

Abstract

This chapter examines the alternatives that countries of origin and countries where assisted suicide is legal may exercise with regard to suicide tourism. Specifically, it considers whether actions to limit or prohibit travel for assisted suicide or access to it within a person’s home country can be legally valid. On the one hand, legally restricting access to assisted suicide to residents only or to patients who have had a long-standing relationship with prescribing doctors suffers from much criticism and is difficult to justify. On the other hand, from the perspective of countries of origin, it is difficult and inappropriate to apply the doctrine of extraterritorial jurisdiction to the criminality of assisted suicide. The chapter also considers the strength of other suggestions in relation to international law, particularly the idea of ‘soft law’ regulation of the practice.