Is causing/encouraging someone’s suicide illegal in France?

[everlastinghistory]

This is a bit of an odd question, I know.

Long story short I am considered killing myself as a result of something that happened between me and a friend from France.

Canada (my country) and France do have an extradition treaty. What I am unsure of however, is if encouraging suicide is illegal in both countries.

The person never directly told me to kill myself but they also didn't tell me not to do it. The exact sentence was "if you want to kill yourself do it". They were not telling me to do it. They said it would hurt them if I did. They were telling me thatif it was I wanted, and what I thought was best for me, to do it. They were telling me it was my decision. I mentioned it first. It was not them who suggested suicide. I do not want to kms because of that message. The situation is a lot more complicated.

I'm just worried that message may get taken out of context a little and don't want to leave them with both my death and legal issues on their shoulders… Especially not foreign legal issues.

I've tried to Google this and all I found was articles about nurse assisted suicide.

 

[Suicidebydeath]

"if you want to kill yourself do it" is the sort of thing people reactively say while being upset. I don't think there will be any legal consequences to that, it's not as if anyone would even know they said it, anyway. The fact you're both in different countries makes it even less likely, they won't extradite for that.

 

[everlastinghistory]

"if you want to kill yourself do it" is the sort of thing people reactively say while being upset. I don't think there will be any legal consequences to that, it's not as if anyone would even know they said it, anyway. The fact you're both in different countries makes it even less likely, they won't extradite for that.

The main reason I think anyone could find out about that conversation is because they're the only person I plan on writing a note to, and I think people would get a little curious about who tf they were. But realistically you're right. I'm probably just overthinking because I don't want them to get stuck dealing with more than they already will be.

 

[d3c96524be95]

Not sure if you're still among us, but if you are, yes, it is illegal in France to encourage someone to commit suicide. Whether or not it will be considered incitement or not will depend on many different factors (including who is the prosecutor), but it seems to me that the statement "if you want to kill yourself do it" in this instance could easily be interpreted as something empathic rather than something malevolent and that incitement would need more grounds to qualify (but I'm not 100% sure). I'd say a charge for this motive is unlikely because it really seems against the intent of the law.

There's also this law that is more commonly used. One could argue that you had expressed to your friend an imminent intent to harm or kill yourself, and that they should have actively done something to prevent it. That's one of the reasons why it's almost always a bad idea to discuss suicidal thoughts or suicidal intents with *anyone* in France (including your family, friends and doctors). French citizens are bound by the law to immediately call emergency services in such case.

Now, whatever you choose to do, given that you are abroad, that someone would need to read these messages and do something about them, that intentions are always hard to prove, that your friend's message is probably rather old now, and that they'd probably be deeply affected by your loss (as they doesn't seem ill-intentioned against you), I'd say it's very unlikely that any charge would be pressed against them (and it would be very inhumane btw). If you really want to be extra-cautious, don't send them a note or a worrying message just before you decide to commit. If at all possible, defer the message so that they receive it long after your death. Also, destroy any incriminating or ambiguous evidence: it's way more likely that someone will look in your devices than theirs.

I don't think I can do anything to help (if it's not even too late), but if I can, let me know. I'd do my best .