Legal and Criminological Dimensions of Suicide with Emphasis on the Legal Systems of Iran and England and Its Relationship with Artificial Intelligence and Neuroscience

Abstract

The phenomenon of suicide, which is among the major adverse outcomes of the industrial world, is largely influenced by social disorganization, psychological disorders, and social inequalities. Suicide is recognized as a major social and mental-health problem in many countries, particularly in European states. This phenomenon has been increasing in many societies, including Iran. In Iranian law, although suicide and self-harm are considered impermissible from the perspective of religious and jurisprudential doctrines, they have not been directly criminalized. The Iranian legislature, by enacting the Computer Crimes Act in 2009, has criminalized assistance in suicide and, accordingly, has provided punishment for those who aid in the commission of this act. In English law as well, suicide itself is not regarded as a criminal offense; however, assistance in suicide is punishable. This study proposes that, in order to uphold the sanctity of human life, assistance in suicide should be explicitly criminalized, and its punishment should be aggravated where the victim is a minor. Moreover, the implementation of educational and preventive security measures for individuals who have attempted suicide but have not succeeded is deemed necessary. With regard to euthanasia, in both the Iranian and English legal systems, active and non-voluntary euthanasia are considered intentional homicide; however, with respect to other forms of euthanasia, different approaches are adopted depending on the circumstances.