Victorian Consolidated Legislation

Crimes Act 1958 - SECT 6B

Survivor of suicide pact who kills deceased party is guilty of manslaughter

6B. Survivor of suicide pact who kills deceased party is guilty of
manslaughter



(1) Where upon the trial of a person for the murder of another person the jury
are satisfied that the accused caused or was a party to causing the death of
that other person by a wilful act or omission but are satisfied on the balance
of probabilities that the act was done or the omission made in pursuance of a
suicide pact then the jury shall, notwithstanding that the circumstances were
such that but for the provisions of this section they might have returned a
verdict of murder, return a verdict of manslaughter in lieu thereof.

(1A) Despite section 5, a person convicted of manslaughter under subsection
(1) is only liable to level 5 imprisonment (10 years maximum).





(2) Any person who-









   (a)  incites any other person to commit suicide and that other person
        commits or attempts to commit suicide in consequence thereof; or





   (b)  aids or abets any other person in the commission of suicide or in an
        attempt to commit suicide-

shall be guilty of an indictable offence and liable to level 6 imprisonment (5
years maximum); but if the jury are satisfied on the balance of probabilities
that the acts constituting the offence were done pursuant to a suicide pact
the jury shall return a verdict of guilty of the indictable offence of being a
party to a suicide pact and the convicted person shall be liable to level 6
imprisonment (5 years maximum).

(3) The fact that by virtue of this section any person who in pursuance of a
suicide pact has killed another person has not been or is not liable to be
convicted of murder shall not affect the question of whether the homicide
amounted to murder in the case of a third person who is a party to the
homicide and is not a party to the suicide pact.

(4) For the purposes of this section suicide pact means an agreement between
two or more persons having for its object the death of all of them whether or
not each is to take his own life; but nothing done by a person who enters into
a suicide pact shall be treated as done by him in pursuance of the pact unless
it is done while he has the settled intention of dying in pursuance of the
pact.



* * * * *