KUALA LUMPUR: The government tabled in the Dewan Rakyat today several bills to decriminalise suicide.
The bills were tabled for first reading by Minister in the Prime Minister's Department (Law and Institutional Reform) Datuk Seri Azalina Othman Said.
The second reading of the bills will be made during the next sitting.
In a statement to explain the amendment to the bills, Azalina said the move to decriminalise suicide attempts was one of the efforts by the Madani government to prevent suicide attempts and encourage those suffering from it to come forward to get help, as well as to remove the stigma against suicide.
She said there were four main policies in the bills — Penal Code (Amendment) (No.2) Bill 2023, Criminal Procedure Code (Amendment) (No.2) 2023 and Mental Health (Amendment) Bill 2023.
The first was to abolish Section 309 of the Penal Code which made suicide a criminal offence.
The second, meanwhile, was to enhance sections 305 and 306 of the same code to to increase penalties to those who instigate victims to commit suicide and to separate the categories related to victims.
The third is to establish the role of crisis intervention officers and to give power to apprehend under the Mental Health Act 2001, while the fourth is to establish a moratorium on the implementation of Section 309 of the Penal Code until the repeal of the section can be gazetted.
Under Section 305 of the Penal Code, the amendment seeks to separate children from people who lack the mental capacity to understand the consequences of suicide by reasons of unsoundness of mind, mental disorder, intoxication, or under the influence of any drug or other substance.
The section deals entirely with those who instigate suicide attempts, and with the separation of children from those lacking mental capacity, instigating the former to commit suicide, whether they are sane or of unsound mind, is an offence.
Anyone found guilty of this offence can be imprisoned up to 20 years and is also liable to a fine.
Under the amendments to Section 306, meanwhile, anyone who abets a child or a person lacking mental capacity similar to the amendment to Section 305 is liable to up to 10 years' imprisonment and a fine.
Calls to decriminalise suicide began in 2020. The following year, the Health Ministry backed calls to decriminalise suicide attempts, especially since the Covid-19 pandemic had led to mental anguish among people around the globe including Malaysians.
During the height of the pandemic and when the country was under lockdown, it was reported that the police had received 638 reports of suicide between January and July 2021, an increase of 143 per cent from the 262 cases reported in the same period in 2020.