In 17 countries suicide is currently illegal, and an additional 20 countries follow Islamic or Sharia law where suicide attempters may be punished with jail sentences. The majority of countries have laws making it illegal to abet, aid or encourage suicide, but the nature and punishment of the illegal actions varies. Laws in places with civil, common law, Islamic law and traditional law systems are compared. Great variances in application were noted, sometimes within countries. It is impossible to estimate the number of persons currently in jail for attempted suicide, but jail sentences are still given. Some countries do not prosecute suicide attempters despite the laws, while others consistently jail suicide attempters. In countries where suicide attempts have been decriminalised, attempters may still face prosecution when another person is injured or dies as a result of their suicide attempt, or when the attempter is a member of the military. We discuss the roots of laws making suicide, aiding and encouraging suicide illegal and examine prospects for future changes. The recent Supreme Court Decision in Canada, invalidating the law making it illegal to assist in the suicide of physically ill people who are suffering (albeit with restrictive conditions) illustrates current trends towards “liberalisation” of assisted suicide.

Britten and Pears regarded their relationship as a ‘marriage’ and described it as such as early as 1943. Although comfortable with using this term privately, they were aware of the legal prohibition and social stigma that prevented them from proclaiming their partnership openly. And yet throughout their nearly forty years together they made no immediate secret among their circle of friends and relatives about living their lives as a couple. As this essay suggests, theirs was a special case, in that they lived their relationship with relative openness among those who knew them. Works such as the Michelangelo Sonnets and Canticle I were a declaration of sorts about the nature of their relationship, although it was not until after the composer’s death that Pears commented overtly in an interview about their love for one another. A decade after the decriminalisation of homosexual acts in the UK, and with social discussion on homosexuality widening, Pears believed that his and Britten’s marriage need no longer be regarded as a secret.