Euthanasia Federal Council does not want a special law on the Sarco death capsule for the time being

Following the first use of the Sarco death capsule in Switzerland at the end of September, the Federal Council sees no need for legislative action for the time being. It wants to await the results of the cantonal investigations, it writes.

"An explicit special legislative ban on this death capsule is not considered expedient," reads the statement published by the national government on Thursday in response to a motion by Nina Fehr Düsel (SVP/ZH). The petitioner is calling for the examination of a legal provision that would ban the use of the Sarco suicide capsule in Switzerland.

The Federal Council waves it away. It writes that such a ban would only prevent the use of the Sarco suicide capsule in its current form. However, other conceivable instruments and procedures would not be covered by the regulation.

The Federal Council also refers to the current provisions. Accordingly, the Sarco suicide capsule is not legally compliant in two respects: firstly, the capsule does not meet the requirements of product safety law and may therefore not be placed on the market. Secondly, the use of nitrogen in the capsule is not compatible with the purpose article of the Chemicals Act.

Ongoing investigations

Finally, the Federal Council notes that cantonal investigations into the use of the death capsule are currently pending. It is of the opinion "that the results of these investigations must be awaited in order to decide whether and where there is a need for legal regulation".

At the end of September, the euthanasia organization "The Last Resort" used the suicide capsule for the first time in Switzerland, at a forest hut in Merishausen in the canton of Schaffhausen. The emergency services immediately deployed seized the capsule and took the deceased, a 64-year-old American woman who had suffered from an immune deficiency for many years, to Zurich for an autopsy.

Several people were arrested. The public prosecutor's office initiated proceedings for incitement and aiding and abetting suicide. Florian Willet, co-president of "The Last Resort", has been in custody since then. The other detainees have been released.

SDA