Question to the Attorney General:

To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the answers by Lord Agnew of Oulton on 7 November and Lord Ashton of Hyde on 6 November (HL Deb, col 1594), what steps they are taking under the Suicide Act 1961 to prosecute those responsible for internet sites that incite, aid or abet the promotion of suicide.

The Director of Public Prosecutions has published a ‘Policy for Prosecutors in Respect of Cases of Encouraging or Assisting Suicide’. In this policy, the DPP makes the CPS position clear that, in the context of websites that promote suicide, a suspect may commit the offence of encouraging or assisting suicide, if it is intended that one or more readers of such material will commit or attempt to commit suicide.

In considering whether or not to bring charges under section 2 of the Suicide Act 1961, a Crown Prosecutor will apply the Full Code Test as set out in the Code for Crown Prosecutors, giving consideration to both the evidence and the public interest in prosecuting, as they would with any other offence.