Article
10 June 2008
The Peaceful Pill Handbook (New Revised International Edition) Classified as R18
The Office of Film and Literature Classification has classified The Peaceful Pill Handbook (New Revised International Edition) as objectionable except if the availability of the publication is restricted to persons who have attained the age of 18 years. Display conditions on the publication require that it be displayed only in a sealed package and carry an official label showing its classification. To read the full written decision, click the link below.
The Peaceful Pill Handbook (New Revised International Edition) (PDF, v7.0, 183kb)
Please note that the content in this decision may not be suitable for younger readers.
Background
The Peaceful Pill Handbook (New Revised International Edition) was the second version of the book submitted to the Office. The first: The Peaceful Pill Handbook, was submitted by its co-authors Dr Philip Nitschke and Dr Fiona Stewart, and was classified as objectionable on 7 June 2007. The classification of objectionable meant it was illegal to possess or distribute the book in New Zealand. In its reasons for the decision to ban that edition of The Peaceful Pill Handbook the Office noted that “the publication’s promotion and encouragement of criminal activities in pursuit of a peaceful and dignified death increases the likelihood that those crimes will be committed by some readers.”
On 5 February 2008, the Comptroller of Customs submitted The Peaceful Pill Handbook (New Revised International Edition) to the Office of Film and Literature Classification. The book had been seized by Customs at the border. The book was found to be in the same format as the original edition but sections dealing with practical instructional detail on how to commit crime had been blacked out.
The Peaceful Pill Handbook (New Revised International Edition) and the original The Peaceful Pill Handbook were published by Exit International, a group which advocates the right of persons suffering terminal illness to determine the time and method of their death.
Submission process
Before making a classification decision the Office can invite interested parties to make submissions on the publication. In this case some groups had already made submissions on the previously classified edition of The Peaceful Pill Handbook.
Submissions on the book ranged from a total ban sought by the organisation Right to Life to an unrestricted classification sought by counsel for the book’s importer.
The decision-making process
In its consideration of the book the Office looked at whether the New Revised International Edition, with its blacked out sections, still dealt with matters of crime. It found that the revised version of the publication still dealt with matters of crime but no longer in a manner that was likely to injure the public good.
The Office then considered the extent and degree to which, and the manner in which, the publication dealt with the infliction of serious harm and criminal acts. In terms of serious harm the decision states “there can be little doubt that using some means to kill one’s self is included in the definition of ‘the infliction of serious physical harm’. The publication therefore deals extensively with the infliction of serious physical harm both directly and indirectly in its discussion and detailed descriptions of various methods of suicide. These suicide methods are described in a manner that is factual, clinical and instructional. Those readers intent on ending their lives are likely to find this manner of description helpful and reassuring. Others will find it disturbing and cold.”
The Office weighed the extent and degree and the manner in which the book promotes or encourages criminal activities. The decision states “Blacked out sections indicate, by means of section headings that remain or by the text that remains adjacent to such obscured segments, the gist of the information that has been removed from this revised edition of the book. The dominant effect of these rather obvious ‘censored’ sections is that the publication no longer provides practical instructional advice on how to commit particular crimes.”
Additional matters considered in reaching a decision on The Peaceful Pill Handbook (New Revised International Edition) were the format, accessibility, intended audience and purpose of the book.
The Office must also take into account the rights of New Zealanders to seek receive and impart information under the Bill of Rights Act 1990. Any restriction placed on information by the Office of Film and Literature Classification is subject only to such reasonable limits prescribed by law as can be demonstrably justified in a free and democratic society.
Classification decision
The Office’s written decision on The Peaceful Pill Handbook (New Revised International Edition) outlines the classification process and the reasons for classifying the book as R18. Click the link below to read the decision.
The Peaceful Pill Handbook (New Revised International Edition) (183kb)
Please note that the content in this decision may not be suitable for younger readers.
Updated 10.06.2008