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CRIME

Doctor acquitted of murder in assisted suicide case

A doctor who was accused of murder after helping a patient to die was on Tuesday found not guilty by a court in Muttenz in the canton of Basel-Land.

Published: 10 July 2019 09:30 CEST
Doctor acquitted of murder in assisted suicide case
File photo: Depositphotos
However the doctor was convicted of violating drugs laws and received a 15-month suspended sentence and a 20,000 franc fine, reported news agencies.
 
Assisted suicide is legal in Switzerland, under strict conditions, one of which is that the patient must be considered to have the mental capacity to know what he or she is doing. 
 
In this case, the patient, in her 60s, was suffering not only from physical ailments but also from depression, which, claimed the prosecution, affected her judgement. 
 
The doctor, president of assisted suicide organisation Life Circle/Eternal Spirit, was acting out of “personal idealism”, said the prosecution.
 
The defence argued that the doctor had lawfully evaluated the patient and considered her capable of making the decision to die before she took the lethal drug. 
 
A psychological report submitted after the woman’s death stated that the patient suffered from serious depression which could have affected her willingness to die.
 
However, despite considering the report reliable, the court judges said the patient was nevertheless capable of knowing the consequences of her choice to die. She had correctly evaluated her quality of life and loss of autonomy, they said. Further medical treatment would only have eased her symptoms in the very best case scenario. 
 
Though acquitted of murder, the doctor was found guilty of violating the rules surrounding drugs used for assisted suicide, which are strictly regulated in Switzerland.
 
 
Assisted suicide was legalised in Switzerland in 1918, and the current law dating from 1942 makes assistance to suicide legal on the condition that the assisting party derive no substantial financial gain from it. 
 
According to the law, anyone can benefit from suicide assistance if they meet certain conditions, including having a persistent wish to die, not acting on impulse, being capable of sound judgement and not being influenced by a third party. 
 
However established organisations like Exit will only treat people with unbearable symptoms, unacceptable disabilities or hopeless prognoses. It is rare that they assist people with a psychological disorder.
 
The person wishing to die must be able to take the lethal drug on their own. 

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CRIME

Switzerland’s new law change around rape comes into force

Switzerland’s legal definition of rape is changing on July 1st. Some say that the change to expand the definition is long overdue but others are warning that many cantons in Switzerland may be unprepared for it. 

Published: 27 June 2024 10:35 CEST
Updated: 1 July 2024 16:26 CEST
Switzerland's new law change around rape comes into force

Incidents of rape have been on the increase in Switzerland in recent years.  

For example, in 2022 some 867 cases were reported to police – an increase of 14.5 percent on the previous year. 

These statistics have helped propel a long running debate over the legal definition of rape in the country and whether the law has been fit for purpose.

For over thirty years, the country’s Swiss Criminal Code considered rape to require penetration and physical resistance from the victim, in order to be prosecuted.

Verbal communication of a clear ‘no’ was not considered as a determining factor in prosecution. 

However, from July 1st 2024 the principle of “no means no” will be applied in rape investigation and prosecutions, in Switzerland with verbal refusal of consent taken into consideration by police and the judiciary. 

Furthermore, courts will be given grounds to consider the victim’s state of shock or fear, in the absence of a verbal refusal. 

A problematic definition

The previous definition of rape risked perpetrators of sexual violence walking free, as their actions did not fit the existing precise definition – as Clare O’Dea explained in an article for The Local. 

The lack of a revised definition resulted in widespread criticism from groups from within and outside of Switzerland.

In 2019 the issue entered the national spotlight, as the shocking results of a survey carried out by Amnesty International revealed 1 in 5 Swiss women was the victim of rape or sexual violence. 

Significant pressure to change the law came from the Council of Europe, which argued the Swiss definition of rape was a hurdle to the Swiss implementation of the Istanbul Convention on violence against women. 

These pressures finally led to the Federal Council into action. Switzerland’s higher federal legislative body, the Council of States, voted in favour of a change on January 11, 2024.

Why some cantons may not be ready

With the law change only days away, thinktank Reat.ch reported on Monday that there is a disparity between Switzerland’s cantons when it comes to training and equipping law enforcement and reporting authorities. 

In their report, the groups highlighted cantons such as Bern, Jura, Uri, Vaud and Valais as being well-advanced in preparations for the introduction of the “no means no” principle through education programs.

In contrast, Appenzell-Outer Rhodes, Glarus and Obwalden were each singled out as cantons where little to no progress had been made in working with police and other emergency services to prepare.

Overall, the report suggests that French-speaking areas of Switzerland have made far more progress in preparation for July 1st, than many of their German-speaking counterparts. 

In addition, the report also signalled that across the country, services and options for male victims of rape were largely overlooked.

Furthermore, more rigorous and sustained collection of data regarding sexual violence was called for.  

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