# consent to murder **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [December 15, 2014, 2:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/consent-to-murder/707289 "2014-12-15T14:39:01Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![miss.o](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/eb9ed0/32.png) [@miss.o](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/miss.o)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2014, 2:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/consent-to-murder/707289/1 "2014-12-15T14:39:01Z")
Is there anywhere in the world a person Can consent to be killed by another person? With waivers etc.? ---
**Author:** ![Xema](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/9de053/32.png) [@Xema](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Xema)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2014, 2:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/consent-to-murder/707289/2 "2014-12-15T14:49:13Z")
There are places (e.g. the Netherlands) where doctor-assisted suicide is legal. This would be regarded as murder in other places. ---
**Author:** ![Hector\_St\_Clare](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b5ac83/32.png) [@Hector\_St\_Clare](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hector_St_Clare)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2014, 2:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/consent-to-murder/707289/3 "2014-12-15T14:53:46Z")
It was legal in Uruguay for a good part of the 20th century (Uruguay is by far the most secular country in Latin America). I don’t know if the laws have changed though. ---
**Author:** ![Hector\_St\_Clare](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b5ac83/32.png) [@Hector\_St\_Clare](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hector_St_Clare)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2014, 2:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/consent-to-murder/707289/4 "2014-12-15T14:55:12Z")
Uruguay actually used to have legalized dueling, among other odd laws. ---
**Author:** ![boffking](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/858c86/32.png) [@boffking](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/boffking)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2014, 6:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/consent-to-murder/707289/5 "2014-12-15T18:27:55Z")
> [@miss.o](#): > > Is there anywhere in the world a person Can consent to be killed by another person? With waivers etc.? IIRC terminally ill patients in Oregon can. ---
**Author:** ![Ranger\_Jeff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranger_jeff/32/2065_2.png) [@Ranger\_Jeff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranger_Jeff)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2014, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/consent-to-murder/707289/6 "2014-12-15T19:23:02Z")
Less formally, there’s always “Suicide by Cop”. ---
**Author:** ![spifflog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c5a1d2/32.png) [@spifflog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/spifflog)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2014, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/consent-to-murder/707289/7 "2014-12-15T20:06:52Z")
By joining any military, anywhere, some would say. ---
**Author:** ![Jeff\_Lichtman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jeff_lichtman/32/1531_2.png) [@Jeff\_Lichtman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jeff_Lichtman)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2014, 1:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/consent-to-murder/707289/8 "2014-12-16T01:18:20Z")
> [@Ranger\_Jeff](#): > > Less formally, there’s always “Suicide by Cop”. Suicide by cop (AKA “blue suicide”) doesn’t work that way. You can’t get a cop to kill you just by requesting it (although that would be a good way to get a free ride to a mental hospital). To achieve suicide by cop, you have to act in a threatening enough manner that a cop shoots you. I don’t think this is what the OP was looking for. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2014, 2:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/consent-to-murder/707289/9 "2014-12-16T02:03:59Z")
But just to be clear, you cannot consent to murder (per the title). Murder is, by definition, unlawful killing. ---
**Author:** ![usedtobe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ec9cab/32.png) [@usedtobe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/usedtobe)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2014, 2:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/consent-to-murder/707289/10 "2014-12-16T02:18:49Z")
By English common law and its modern-day descendants, it is impossible to form a valid contrat to commit a crime. So, no agreement to murder is legally possible. Agreeing to homicide may be. ---
**Author:** ![chacoguy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/50afbb/32.png) [@chacoguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chacoguy)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2014, 2:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/consent-to-murder/707289/11 "2014-12-16T02:25:00Z")
[This is probably as close as you will find.](http://www.theguardian.com/world/2003/dec/04/germany.lukeharding) ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2014, 2:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/consent-to-murder/707289/12 "2014-12-16T02:51:30Z")
> [@chacoguy](#): > > [This is probably as close as you will find.](http://www.theguardian.com/world/2003/dec/04/germany.lukeharding) [At the retrial, he was found guilty of murder.](http://www.theguardian.com/world/2006/may/10/germany.lukeharding) ---
**Author:** ![Isilder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/cc9497/32.png) [@Isilder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Isilder)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2014, 12:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/consent-to-murder/707289/13 "2014-12-16T12:27:19Z")
> [@usedtobe](#): > > By English common law and its modern-day descendants, it is impossible to form a valid contract to commit a crime. There have been suicide pacts where a survivor has avoided prosecution … clearly they had helped the deceased to die , or any other injured to get injured… Perhaps they should be prosecuted though… Attempts to pretend to engage in a suicide pact and not ending up seriously injured may result in murder charges… ---
**Author:** ![psychonaut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/psychonaut/32/4655_2.png) [@psychonaut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/psychonaut)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2014, 12:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/consent-to-murder/707289/14 "2014-12-16T12:56:07Z")
Duelling is basically giving consent to your opponent to attempt to kill you (in exchange for her doing likewise), so that would fit the bill if you could find anywhere where it’s still legal. Wikipedia says that “There is a frequently quoted, (albeit dubious), claim that duelling is legal in Paraguay if both parties are blood donors.” Sounds urban-legendy to me, but still barely within the realm of possibility. ---
**Author:** ![psychonaut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/psychonaut/32/4655_2.png) [@psychonaut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/psychonaut)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2014, 1:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/consent-to-murder/707289/15 "2014-12-16T13:05:45Z")
Further to the above, there is also the issue of [trial by combat](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trial_by_combat), which is a sort of judicially sanctioned duel to settle civil or criminal disputes. According to Wikipedia, > [@Wikipedia](#): > > Because Britain did not abolish wager by battle until Parliament’s 1819 response to Ashford v Thornton (1818), and because no court in post-independence United States has addressed the issue, the question of whether trial by combat remains a valid American alternative to civil action remains open, **at least in theory**. The emphasis above is mine—I have no doubt that no modern-day American court would accept a petitioner’s request to have their civil or criminal case settled by combat. ---
**Author:** ![Xema](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/9de053/32.png) [@Xema](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Xema)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2014, 2:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/consent-to-murder/707289/16 "2014-12-16T14:16:54Z")
> [@psychonaut](#): > > Duelling is basically giving consent to your opponent to attempt to kill you (in exchange for her doing likewise)… Out of curiosity, is there any record of two women fighting a duel? ---
**Author:** ![Hector\_St\_Clare](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b5ac83/32.png) [@Hector\_St\_Clare](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hector_St_Clare)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2014, 2:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/consent-to-murder/707289/17 "2014-12-16T14:25:26Z")
> [@psychonaut](#): > > Duelling is basically giving consent to your opponent to attempt to kill you (in exchange for her doing likewise), so that would fit the bill if you could find anywhere where it’s still legal. Wikipedia says that “There is a frequently quoted, (albeit dubious), claim that duelling is legal in Paraguay if both parties are blood donors.” Sounds urban-legendy to me, but still barely within the realm of possibility. They mean Uruguay, and the law was abolished in 1992. It was also semi-legal in Uruguay (and as far as I know still is) to kill someone whether or not they were terminally ill, if they repeatedly ask you to do so. It was up to the court’s discretion to punish you or not. ---
**Author:** ![Hector\_St\_Clare](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b5ac83/32.png) [@Hector\_St\_Clare](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hector_St_Clare)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2014, 2:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/consent-to-murder/707289/18 "2014-12-16T14:26:39Z")
Also, I think a lot of duels back in the day were to first blood, not death. ---
**Author:** ![Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tapioca_Dextrin)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2014, 2:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/consent-to-murder/707289/19 "2014-12-16T14:41:09Z")
> [@Xema](#): > > Out of curiosity, is there any record of two women fighting a duel? 1792 - The Petticoat Duel [It’s #4 on this list](http://mentalfloss.com/article/30314/5-silly-reasons-people-decided-duel) ---
**Author:** ![xythenz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/a88e57/32.png) [@xythenz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/xythenz)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2014, 2:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/consent-to-murder/707289/20 "2014-12-16T14:43:03Z")
> [@Hector\_St\_Clare](#): > > Also, I think a lot of duels back in the day were to first blood, not death. [Something like this?](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DvKeU211RrE&index=11&list=PL8F06C655B3E217BA&src_vid=W9CqeL1JcU8&feature=iv&annotation_id=annotation_928069) All seriousness, I’ve heard of dueling “to satisfaction”. Although I assumed death was was more common. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/consent-to-murder/707289.md?page=2)