by Mail on-line
The British government will not stand in the way of legislation that would permit assisted suicide, the Ministry of Justice said Sunday as parliament prepares to examine a bill.
The governing coalition will not order its lawmakers to block the proposals and instead they will be given a free vote according to conscience, a spokesman said.
The draft legislation will come before parliament in the next four months, The Sunday Telegraph newspaper said.
It remains a criminal offence - punishable by up to 14 years' imprisonment - to help someone take their own life, under the 1961 Suicide Act.
Four years ago, the director of public prosecutions (DPP), who heads England's state prosecution service, issued guidelines which said anyone "acting out of compassion" while helping a loved one to die was unlikely to be charged.
Since then, around 90 such cases have been examined and no charges brought, The Sunday Telegraph said.
And about bloody time!
