R v Reed
R v Reed (Nicholas) [1982] Crim. L.R. 819 is an English criminal law case, dealing with suicide and criminal conspiracy. The court ruled that the event that the defendant conspired about did not have to take place for an offence to have been committed.[1]
Facts
R was convicted of conspiring to aid and abet suicide and other offences and was arranging suicide pacts, but no one actually committed suicide.
Judgment
The court decided that if anyone had committed suicide, he would have been charged with, among other things, conspiring to aid and abet a suicide, so he should be charged now with the conspiracy. The judgment reasoned that the agreement did necessarily involve committing an offence if carried out in accordance with the conspirators' intentions. The conviction was held (on appeal) because R had put the person "in touch" with an individual who he knew would assist in suicide.[2]
See also
References
- ↑ Elliott, Catherine; Quinn, Frances (2014). "10: Inchoate Offences". Criminal law (10 ed.). Harlow, England Munich: Pearson Education Limited. p. 278. ISBN 9781292015491.
Nor is it an attempt to conspire (one exception to this rule is aiding and abetting suicide, as charged in R v. Reed [1982] as this is a full offence in its own right, rather than an inchoate offence....
- ↑ Gostin, Lawrence O. (1993). "Drawing a Line between Killing and Letting Die: The Law, and Law Reform, on Medically Assisted Dying". Journal of Law, Medicine & Ethics. 21 (1): 94–101. doi:10.1111/j.1748-720X.1993.tb01234.x. ISSN 1073-1105.