News media in other free countries would be amazed at the restrictions on reporting deaths in New Zealand by suicide. For a long time it has been against the law to even call such a death by its name until after an inquest, usually months later, and even then only if the coroner permits. The most we may legally report at the time of the death is there are "no suspicious circumstances" or "police are not looking for anyone else". Readers no doubt draw the right conclusion; circumlocution soon loses its point.
Not before time, Parliament is considering a bill to relax the restriction. If it is passed, it will become lawful to refer to a "suspected suicide" before an inquest is held. But in other ways the law is being tightened and one of them would restrict references to historical and overseas suicides. When a suicide bombing occurs overseas it may be illegal to report it in this country, according to Wellington lawyer Graeme Edgeler's reading of the bill as it has emerged from a select committee.
His commentary on it, which we published last week, is disturbing. "If Parliament doesn't change the bill," he wrote, "then news stories about suicide bombings will be criminal. Any person who wants to follow the law and report on suicide bombings or mention details of historic suicides like the deaths of the September 11 hijackers will have to seek an exemption from the chief coroner."
This is plainly impractical. As Mr Edgeler wrote, "If everyone actually followed this law, the chief coroner would be full-time pre-approving tweets and Facebook posts."
Even if he issued a blanket exemption for every suicide in the news from overseas, he would be busy - and for what purpose?
