Bill S-225
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2nd Session, 41st Parliament,
62-63 Elizabeth II, 2013-2014
senate of canada
BILL S-225
An Act to amend the Criminal Code (physician-assisted death)
R.S., c. C-46
Her Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate and House of Commons of Canada, enacts as follows:
1. Section 14 of the Criminal Code is replaced by the following:
Consent to death
14. (1) Subject to subsections (2) and (3), no person is entitled to consent to have death inflicted on him or her, and such consent does not affect the criminal responsibility of any person by whom death may be inflicted on the person by whom consent is given.
Exception — voluntary euthanasia
(2) A person may consent to voluntary euthanasia by making a request for physician-assisted death in accordance with the conditions and requirements set out in section 241.1.
Non-culpable homicide
(3) Voluntary euthanasia performed by a physician in accordance with section 241.1 is not culpable homicide.
Definitions
(4) In this section, “physician”, “physician-assisted death”, and “voluntary euthanasia” have the same meanings as in section 241.1.
2. The heading before section 241 of the Act is replaced by the following:
Suicide and Physician-Assisted Death
3. The Act is amended by adding the following after section 241:
Definitions
241.1 (1) The following definitions apply in this section.
“assist”
« aider »
« aider »
“assist”, in relation to the death of a person, means to provide the person with the knowledge or means to commit suicide, or to perform an act with the intent to cause the person’s death, in accordance with a request made by that person.
“assisting physician”
« médecin aidant »
« médecin aidant »
“assisting physician” means a physician who provides assistance with dying to a person seeking physician-assisted death.
“consulting physician”
« médecin-conseil »
« médecin-conseil »
“consulting physician” means a physician who advises an assisting physician.
“physician”
« médecin »
« médecin »
“physician” means a doctor of medicine licensed to practise medicine under the laws of the province or territory in which assistance is provided.
“physician-assisted death”
« aide médicale à mourir »
« aide médicale à mourir »
“physician-assisted death” means death that results from suicide committed with the assistance of a physician or from voluntary euthanasia performed by a physician.
“voluntary
euthanasia”
« euthanasie volontaire »
« euthanasie volontaire »
“voluntary euthanasia” means the intentional termination of a person’s life by another person,
in accordance with the former’s request.
No offence if conditions and requirements met
(2) A physician is not guilty of an offence under section 241 if the conditions and requirements set out in subsections (3) to (7) are met.
Conditions for making request
(3) In order to be eligible to make a request for physician-assisted death, a person must
(a) be eighteen years of age or more;
(b) be a Canadian citizen or a permanent resident within the meaning of subsection 2(1) of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act as of the date of the request;
(c) have been diagnosed by a physician as having an illness, a disease or a disability, including a disability arising from traumatic injury,
(i) that causes the person physical or psychological suffering that is intolerable to that person and that cannot be alleviated by any medical treatment acceptable to that person, or
(ii) that results in the person being in a state of weakening capacities with no chance of improvement;
(d) be of sound mind and capable of fully understanding the information provided to him or her under subsection (6); and
(e) be acting voluntarily, free from coercion or undue influence.
Assessment
(4) The assisting physician and a consulting physician must examine the person who wishes to make a request for physician-assisted death in order to determine whether the person meets the conditions set out in subsection (3).
Conditions for serving as consulting physician
(5) In order to serve as a consulting physician, a physician must
(a) be qualified by speciality or experience to make a professional diagnosis and prognosis regarding the person’s medical condition; and
(b) have no professional or personal relationship with the assisting physician.
Information
(6) The assisting physician must inform the person who wishes to make a request for physician-assisted death of his or her medical diagnosis and prognosis, the consequences of the request for physician-assisted death being honoured, the feasible alternative treatments — including, but not limited to, comfort care, palliative or hospice care, and pain control — and his or her right to revoke the request at any time.
Request for physician-assisted death
(7) In order to be valid, a request for physician-assisted death must be recorded in writing and be
(a) signed by the person requesting physician-assisted death in the presence of the assisting physician and two witnesses; or
(b) if the person is unable to sign the request,
(i) signed in the presence of the person and the assisting physician by two witnesses, who must attest that, to the best of their knowledge, the person is competent and the request for physician-assisted death is free and informed and has been made without coercion or undue influence, or
(ii) signed in the presence of the person and two witnesses by the assisting physician, who must attest that the person meets the conditions set out in subsection (3) and understands the information referred to in subsection (6).
Conditions for acting as witness
(8) In order to act as a witness, an individual must be eighteen years of age or more and not be
(a) a relative — by blood, marriage, common-law partnership or adoption — of the person making the request;
(b) an owner, operator, employee or resident of a health care facility in which the person making the request is receiving treatment;
(c) a physician involved in the care of the person making the request; or
(d) a person entitled to any portion of the estate upon the death of the person making the request under any will or by operation of law.
Carrying out request
(9) At least fourteen days must elapse between the time the assisting physician, the person making the request for physician-assisted death or the witnesses, as the case may be, signed the request and the time the request is carried out, and the assisting physician must, immediately before carrying out the request, offer the person an opportunity to revoke the request.
Revocation of request
(10) The request for physician-assisted death ceases to be of effect if at any time the person who made the request revokes it by means of a written or oral notice, or by any other indication to revoke the request for physician-assisted death, even if the person may not be competent when the notice or indication is given.
Note in record
(11) In the event that a request for physician-assisted death is revoked, the assisting physician must ensure that a note recording its revocation is made clearly on the request for physician-assisted death, specifying the date and time of the revocation and all the details of what had already been done to carry out the request.
Documentation and filing
(12) The assisting physician must ensure that the following is placed in the medical record of the person to whom he or she has provided assistance with dying:
(a) a note signed by the assisting physician and consulting physician stating that they examined the person and believed that the person met the conditions set out in subsection (3);
(b) a note signed by the assisting physician stating that immediately prior to providing assistance, the physician offered the person the opportunity to revoke his or her request for physician-assisted death;
(c) a note signed by the assisting physician stating that he or she was satisfied that, at the date and time of his or her having provided assistance, all requirements under this section had been met and indicating the steps taken to carry out the request for physician-assisted death; and
(d) the request for physician-assisted death referred to in subsection (7).
Report to Minister of Health
(13) An assisting physician must, not later than 30 days after the death of a person to whom the physician has provided assistance with dying, submit to the Minister of Health, for the purposes of data collection and analysis, a report in the form prescribed by the regulations that includes the following information:
(a) the person’s name, date of birth, date of death, and province of residence;
(b) the general nature of the person’s illness, disease or disability, referred to in paragraph (3)(c);
(c) the province in which the assistance was provided; and
(d) the assisting physician’s name and the place in which the physician carries on his or her practice.
Confidentiality
(14) The information provided under paragraphs (13)(a) and (d) is confidential, and the Minister of Health must not disclose the information for any purpose.
False statement
(15) Every one who is acting as a witness under this section and who signs a statement that he or she knows is false is guilty of an indictable offence and liable to imprisonment for a term not exceeding five years.
Concealing or destroying request
(16) Every one who wilfully conceals or destroys a request for physician-assisted death or a revocation made under this section is guilty of an indictable offence and liable to imprisonment for a term not exceeding five years.
Benefit
(17) Every assisting physician or consulting physician who provides assistance or advice in relation to the physician-assisted death of a person, knowing or believing that he or she would receive a financial or other material benefit as a result of the death of that person, is guilty of an indictable offence and liable to imprisonment for a term not exceeding five years.
Inconsistencies
(18) If there is any inconsistency or conflict between this section and any other provision of this Act or any other Act of Parliament, this section prevails to the extent of the inconsistency or conflict.
Published under authority of the Senate of Canada
Explanatory Notes
Criminal Code
Clause 1: Existing text of section 14:
14. No person is entitled to consent to have death inflicted on him, and such consent does not affect the criminal responsibility of any person by whom death may be inflicted on the person by whom consent is given.
Clause 2: Existing text of the heading:
Suicide
Clause 3: New.