Prosecutor: suicide rules will apply everywhere

LONDON — Britain's chief prosecutor says the same legal rules must apply to assisted suicide whether it takes place in Britain or in countries where the practice is allowed.

Helping someone die is a crime in Britain. But dozens of Britons have killed themselves in Swiss clinics, and no one has been prosecuted.

Last week Britain's top court ordered the government to draw up rules for when it will — and won't — prosecute assisted suicide.

Director of Public Prosecutions Keir Starmer told Tuesday's Daily Telegraph newspaper that the guidelines would cover all assisted suicides, whether in Britain or abroad.

Starmer says he will produce an interim policy next month.

But he says he can't change the law to make assisted suicide legal. Only Parliament can do that.