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I am referring to rare instances of 'mercy killing.' For example, a family member in the hospital, stricken with a terminal illness, asking a loved one to administer a lethal dose of morphine, or an injured soldier requesting a colleague to end their life before the enemy captures them. And, of course, the occasional unusual sexual fetish taken to an extreme.

Is there a legal defense in these scenarios? Can one claim "I'm not guilty of murder because they 'consented' to having their life ended?'" - or would it always be murder, or at the very least, manslaughter?

AlanSTACK
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Outside of the very specialized legislated regime for medical assistance in dying, a person cannot consent to being killed, and any such purported consent does not relieve the other party from criminal responsibility.

See s. 14 of the Criminal Code:

No person is entitled to consent to have death inflicted on them, and such consent does not affect the criminal responsibility of any person who inflicts death on the person who gave consent.

Jen
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