Attempted Suicide Declared a Crime Again in Pakistan After Federal Shariat Court Verdict

The Federal Shariat Court has declared the government’s 2022 law decriminalizing attempted suicide as un-Islamic, restoring legal provisions under which attempted suicide can once again be treated as a criminal offense in Pakistan.

The verdict was reserved by a bench comprising three judges – Chief Justice Iqbal Hameedur Rehman, Justice Muhammad Anwar Iqbal and Justice Amir Khan.

The court received petitions against the law amendments made in 2022, and found the law was at odds with Islamic injunctions. This has made all the government’s amendments of 2022 redundant.

The law of 2022 repealed section 325 of the Pakistan Penal Code, making attempted suicide a civil offence in the country. The act was considered as an effort to help deal with mental health problems with medical and psychological treatments rather than criminal prosecution.

The Federal Shariat Court, however, in the recent order, reinstated the deleted clause, which could once again make attempted suicide a punishable offense under Pakistan’s law.

The ruling is likely to give rise to discussion among legal, human rights, and mental health experts about the consequences of criminalizing suicide attempts and what they will mean for individuals in mental health crises.

Further legal and constitutional developments are expected following the verdict.