controversial 'euthanasia machine', the first invented voluntary assisted dying machine of its kind, created by philip nitschke, utilised during this period is presently held at london's science museum. austria current status of assisted suicide in europe: physician-assisted suicide is legal legalized by court ruling, but not legislated or regulated assisted suicide is not legal in december 2020, the austrian constitutional court ruled that the prohibition of assisted suicide was unconstitutional. in december 2021, the austrian parliament legalized assisted suicide for those who are terminally ill or have a permanent, debilitating condition. belgium the euthanasia act legalized voluntary euthanasia in belgium in 2002, but it did not cover physician-assisted suicide. canada in canada, physician-assisted suicide was first legalized in the province of quebec on 5 june 2014. it was declared nationally legal by the supreme court of canada on 6 february 2015, in carter v. canada (attorney general). national legislation formalizing physician-assisted suicide passed in mid-june 2016, for patients facing an estimated death within six months. eligibility criteria have been progressively expanded over time. as of march 2021, individuals no longer need to be terminally ill in order to qualify for assisted suicide. legislation allowing for assisted suicide for mental illness was expected to come into force on march 17 2023, but has since been postponed until 2024. between 10 december 2015 and 30 june 2017, 2,149 medically assisted deaths were documented in canada. research published by health canada illustrates physician preference for physician-administered voluntary euthanasia, citing concerns about effective administration and prevention of the potential complications of self-administration by patients. china in china, assisted suicide is illegal under articles 232 and 233 of the criminal law of the people's republic of china. in china, suicide or neglect is considered homicide and can be punished by three to seven years in prison. in may 2011, zhong yichun, a farmer, was sentenced to two years imprisonment by the people's court of longnan county, in china's jiangxi province for assisting zeng qianxiang to die by suicide. zeng had a mental illness and repeatedly asked zhong to help him die by suicide. in october 2010, zeng took excessive sleeping pills and lay in a cave. as planned, zhong called him 15 minutes later to confirm that he was dead and buried him. however, according to the autopsy report, the cause of death was from suffocation, not an overdose. zhong was convicted of criminal negligence. in august 2011, zhong appealed the court sentence, but it was rejected. in 1992, a physician was accused of murdering a patient with advanced cancer by lethal injection. he was eventually acquitted. colombia in may 1997 the colombian constitutional court allowed for the voluntary euthanasia of sick patients who requested to end their lives, by passing article 326 of the 1980 penal code. this ruling owes its success to the efforts of a group that strongly opposed voluntary euthanasia. when one of its members brought a lawsuit to the colombian supreme court against it, the court issued a 6 to 3 decision that "spelled out the rights of a terminally ill person to engage in voluntary euthanasia". publicized cases in january 2022 victor escobar became the first person in the andean country with a non-terminal illness to die by legally regulated euthanasia. the 60-year-old escobar had end-stage chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. denmark assisted suicide is illegal in denmark. passive euthanasia, or the refusal to accept treatment, is not illegal. a survey from 2014 found that 71% of denmark's population was in favor of legalizing voluntary euthanasia and physician-assisted suicide. france assisted suicide is not legal in france. the controversy over legalising voluntary euthanasia and physician-assisted suicide is not as big as in the united states because of the country's "well developed hospice care programme". however, in 2000 the controversy over the topic was ignited with vincent humbert. after a car crash that left him "unable to 'walk, see, speak, smell or taste'", he used the movement of his right thumb to write a book, i ask the right to die (je vous demande le droit de mourir), in which he voiced his desire to "die legally". after his appeal was denied, his mother assisted in killing him by injecting him with an overdose of barbiturates that put him into a coma, killing him two days later. though his mother was arrested for aiding in her son's death and later acquitted, the case did jump-start new legislation which states that when medicine serves "no other purpose than the artificial support of life" it can be "suspended or not undertaken". germany killing somebody in accordance with their demands is always illegal under the german criminal code (paragraph 216, "killing at the request of the victim"). assisting suicide is generally legal and the federal constitutional court has ruled that it is generally protected under the basic law; in 2020, it overturned a ban on the commercialization of assisted suicide. since suicide itself is legal, assistance or encouragement is not punishable by the usual legal mechanisms dealing with complicity and incitement (german criminal law follows the idea of "accessories of complicity" which states that "the motives of a person who incites another person to commit suicide, or who assists in its commission, are irrelevant"). travel to switzerland between 1998 and 2018 around 1250 german citizens (almost three times the number of any other nationality) travelled to dignitas in zurich, switzerland, for an assisted suicide, where this has been legal since 1998. switzerland is one of the few countries that permit assisted suicide for non-resident foreigners. physician-assisted suicide physician-assisted suicide was formally legalised on 26 february 2020 when germany's top court removed the prohibition of "professionally assisted suicide". iceland assisted suicide is illegal. ireland assisted suicide is illegal. "both euthanasia and assisted suicide are illegal under irish law. depending on the circumstances, euthanasia is regarded as either manslaughter or murder and is punishable by up to life imprisonment." italy on 25 september 2019, the italian constitutional court ruling 242/2019 declared that article 580 of the criminal code was unconstitutional; the decriminalisation of assisted suicide in the case of those who aid people who suffer from an irreversible pathology to die, effectively legalised assisted suicide. the italian parliament has not yet passed a law regulating assisted suicide. on 16 june 2022, the first assisted suicide was performed. jersey on 25 november 2021, the states assembly voted to legalise assisted dying and a law legalising it will be drafted in due course. the channel island is the first country in the british islands to approve the measure. the proposition, which was lodged by the council of ministers, proposes that a legal assisted dying service should be set up for residents over the age of 18 with a terminal illness or other incurable suffering. the service will be voluntary and methods are either physician-assisted suicide or euthanasia. this follows a campaign and overwhelming public support. paul gazzard and his late husband alain du chemin were key actors in the campaign in favour of legalising assisted dying. a citizen's jury was established, which recommended that assisted dying be legalised in the island. luxembourg after again failing to get royal assent for legalizing voluntary euthanasia and physician-assisted suicide, in december 2008 luxembourg's parliament amended the country's constitution to take this power away from the monarch, the grand duke of luxembourg. voluntary euthanasia and physician-assisted suicide were legalized in the country in april 2009. netherlands the netherlands was the first country in the world to formally legalise voluntary euthanasia. physician-assisted suicide is legal under the same conditions as voluntary euthanasia. physician-assisted suicide became allowed under the act of 2001 which states the specific procedures and requirements needed in order to provide such assistance. assisted suicide in the netherlands follows a medical model which means that only doctors of patients who are suffering "unbearably without hope" are allowed to grant a request for an assisted suicide. the netherlands allows people over the age of 12 to pursue an assisted suicide when deemed necessary. new zealand assisted suicide was decriminalised after a binding referendum in 2020 on new zealand's end of life choice act 2019. the legislation provided for a year-long delay before it took effect on 6 november 2021. under section 179 of the crimes act 1961, it is illegal to 'aid and abet suicide' and this will remain the case outside the framework established under the end of life choice act. norway assisted suicide is illegal in norway. it is considered murder and is punishable by up to 21 years imprisonment. south africa south africa is struggling with the debate over legalizing voluntary euthanasia and physician-assisted suicide. owing to the underdeveloped health care system that pervades the majority of the country, willem landman, "a member of the south african law commission, at a symposium on euthanasia at the world congress of family doctors" stated that many south african doctors would be willing to perform acts of voluntary euthanasia when it became legalized in the country. he feels that because of the lack of doctors in the country, " euthanasia in south africa would be premature and difficult to put into practice ...". on 30 april 2015, the high court in pretoria granted advocate robin stransham-ford an order that would allow a doctor to assist him in taking his own life without the threat of prosecution. on 6 december 2016, the supreme court of appeal overturned the high court ruling. switzerland though it is illegal to assist a patient in dying in some circumstances, there are others where there is no offence committed. the relevant provision of the swiss criminal code refers to "a person who, for selfish reasons, incites someone to commit suicide or who assists that person in doing so will, if the suicide was carried out or attempted, be sentenced to a term of imprisonment (zuchthaus) of up to 5 years or a term of imprisonment (gefängnis)." a person brought to court on a charge could presumably avoid conviction by proving that they were "motivated by the good intentions of bringing about a requested death for the purposes of relieving "suffering" rather than for "selfish" reasons. in order to avoid conviction, the person has to prove that the deceased knew what he or she was doing, had the capacity to make the decision, and had made an "earnest" request, meaning they asked for death several times. the person helping also has to avoid actually doing the act that leads to death, lest they be convicted under article 114: killing on request (tötung auf verlangen) – a person who, for decent reasons, especially compassion, kills a person on the basis of his or her serious and insistent request, will be sentenced to a term of imprisonment (gefängnis). for instance, it should be the suicide subject who actually presses the syringe or takes the pill, after the helper had prepared the setup. this way the country can criminalise certain controversial acts, which many of its people would oppose, while legalising a narrow range of assistive acts for some of those seeking help to end their lives. switzerland is one of only a handful of countries in the world which permits assisted suicide for non-resident foreigners, causing what some critics have described as suicide tourism. between 1998 and 2018 around 1250 german citizens (almost three times the number of any other nationality) travelled to dignitas in zurich, switzerland, for an assisted suicide. during the same period over 400 british citizens also opted to end their life at the same clinic. in may 2011, zurich held a referendum that asked voters whether (i) assisted suicide should be prohibited outright; and (ii) whether dignitas and other assisted suicide providers should not admit overseas users. zurich voters heavily rejected both bans, despite anti-euthanasia lobbying from two swiss social conservative political parties, the evangelical people's party of switzerland and federal democratic union. the outright ban proposal was rejected by 84% of voters, while 78% voted to keep services open should overseas users require them. in switzerland non-physician-assisted suicide is legal, the assistance mostly being provided by volunteers, whereas in belgium and the netherlands, a physician must be present. in switzerland, the doctors are primarily there to assess the patient's decision capacity and prescribe the lethal drugs. additionally, unlike cases in the united states, a