Germany: Federal Administrative Court Rejects Granting Access to Lethal Drugs to Commit Suicide
In joint decisions published on March 4, 2024, the German Federal Administrative Court (Bundesverwaltungsgericht, BVerwG) denied the plaintiffs permission to acquire sodium pentobarbital for the purpose of suicide. The court considered the denials compatible with the constitutionally protected right to a self-determined death under article 2, paragraph 1 in conjunction with article 1, paragraph 1 … Continue reading “Germany: Federal Administrative Court Rejects Granting…
Contributor:
Gesley, Jenny
Date:2024-04-04
Article
Germany: Higher Administrative Court Prohibits Doctor from Importing and Supplying Drugs for Physician-Assisted Suicide
In a decision published on August 8, 2023, the Higher Administrative Court of North Rhine-Westphalia (Oberverwaltungsgericht Nordrhein-Westfalen, OVG NRW) ruled that the German Federal Institute for Drugs and Medical Devices (Bundesinstitut für Arzneimittel und Medizinprodukte, BfArM) does not have to allow a physician to import the anesthetic sodium pentobarbital from Switzerland to Germany to supply … Continue reading “Germany: Higher Administrative Court Prohibits Doctor…
Contributor:
Gesley, Jenny
Date:2023-09-24
Article
Liechtenstein: European Court of Human Rights Rules Whistleblower’s Dismissal Did Not Infringe Freedom of Expression
(Mar. 17, 2021) On February 16, 2021, the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) held in Gawlik v. Liechtenstein (application no. 23922/19) that the dismissal of a doctor without notice for reporting that his superior allegedly performed illegal euthanasia did not violate his right to freedom of expression under article 10 of the European Convention […]
Canada: Government Reintroduces Bill to Amend Criminal Code Provisions on Medical Assistance in Dying (MAID)
(Nov. 10, 2020) On October 5, 2020, the minister of justice and the attorney general of Canada reintroduced in the House of Commons Bill C-7, which amends the federal Criminal Code’s provisions on medical assistance in dying (MAID). The changes are the same as an earlier version of the bill proposed in the previous parliamentary […]
Contributor:
Ahmad, Tariq
Date:2020-11-10
Article
Germany: Constitutional Court Strikes Down Provision Criminalizing Commercial Assisted Suicide
(Apr. 29, 2020) On February 26, 2020, the German Federal Constitutional Court (Bundesverfassungsgericht, BVerfG) held that the provision in the German Criminal Code criminalizing commercial assisted suicide is unconstitutional. The Court stated that the general right of personality encompasses a right to a self-determined death, which includes the freedom to take one’s own life as […]
Contributor:
Gesley, Jenny
Date:2020-04-29
Article
Australia: Western Australia Legalizes Voluntary Assisted Dying
(Dec. 20, 2019) On December 10, 2019, the Parliament of Western Australia passed the Voluntary Assisted Dying Bill 2019 (WA), when the Legislative Assembly (lower house) voted in favor of amendments that had been passed in the Legislative Council (upper house) the previous week. Western Australia will therefore be the second Australian state to legalize […]
Contributor:
Buchanan, Kelly
Date:2019-12-20
Article
New Zealand: Referendums on Assisted Dying and Cannabis Legalization to be Held in 2020
(Dec. 17, 2019) On December 3, 2019, the New Zealand government launched a new website to provide information on two referendums that will be held in conjunction with the 2020 general election. This followed a vote in Parliament in November 2019 to pass the End of Life Choice Bill (now the End of Life Choice […]
Contributor:
Buchanan, Kelly
Date:2019-12-17
Article
Belgium: Report Reveals Euthanasia Commission Authorized Euthanasia of Three Minors in 2016–17
(Oct. 29, 2018) Belgium has the world’s only law allowing terminally ill minors in “unbearable suffering” to choose to die. (Henry Samuel, Belgium Authorized Euthanasia of a Terminally Ill Nine and 11-Year-Old in Youngest Cases Worldwide, TELEGRAPH (Aug. 7, 2018).) According to a report published on July 17, 2018, by the Commission fédérale de Contrôle […]
Contributor:
Boring, Nicolas
Date:2018-10-29
Article
Australia: Victorian State Parliament Passes Bill to Legalize Voluntary Euthanasia
(Nov. 30, 2017) On November 29, 2017, the Parliament of Victoria passed the Voluntary Assisted Dying Bill 2017 (Vic), under which terminally ill people will be able to request assistance to end their lives through the use of a lethal medication. Once it receives royal assent, the bill will come into force in June 2019, […]
Contributor:
Buchanan, Kelly
Date:2017-11-30
Article
Germany: Purchase of Lethal Dose of Narcotics for Painless Suicide Not Deniable in “Extremely Exceptional Situations”
(May 24, 2017) On March 2, 2017, Germany’s Federal Administrative Court (Bundesverwaltungsgericht (BVerwG)) held that the constitutionally guaranteed general right to protection of personality includes the right of seriously and terminally ill patients to decide how and when to end their lives, provided that the patients are able to form the decision of their own […]
Contributor:
Gesley, Jenny
Date:2017-05-24
Article
Netherlands: New Regulation on Late-Term Abortions and Terminations of Lives of Neonates
(Jan. 15, 2016) The Dutch Ministry of Health, Welfare and Sport and the Ministry of Security and Justice have prepared a new regulation clarifying the due care criteria and medical and legal considerations to be taken into account in performing late-term abortions and the euthanasia of neonates experiencing unbearable suffering and who have no prospect of improvement. The new norm also provides […]
Contributor:
Zeldin, Wendy
Date:2016-01-15
Article
Germany: Parliament Adopts Draft Act to Criminalize Commercial Assisted Suicide
(Dec. 1, 2015) On November 6, 2015, the German Bundestag (parliament) adopted a draft act that criminalizes commercial assisted suicide. (Entwurf eines Gesetzes zur Strafbarkeit der geschäftsmäßigen Förderung der Selbsttötung [Draft Act to Criminalize Commercial Assisted Suicide] (July 1, 2015), DEUTSCHER BUNDESTAG: DRUCKSACHEN UND PROTOKOLLE [BT-Drs.] 18/5373, Deutscher Bundestag website (scroll down to view text of the […]
Contributor:
Gesley, Jenny
Date:2015-12-01
Article
European Court of Human Rights; France: Ruling on French Case of Discontinuation of Treatment
(June 17, 2015) On June 5, 2015, the Grand Chamber of the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR), in the case of Lambert and Others v. France, held by a majority opinion that the application of the French Conseil d’État decision of June 24, 2014, allowing the discontinuation of life-sustaining treatment to Vincent Lambert, would […]
Contributor:
Boring, Nicolas
Date:2015-06-17
Article
Netherlands: Precedent Set in Case of Son-Assisted Suicide
(June 17, 2015) On May 13, 2015, a Dutch appeals court in Arnhem cleared Albert Heringa of all criminal responsibility in assisting his 99-year-old mother to commit suicide in 2008. Although doctor-assisted suicide has been legal in the Netherlands since 2002, the case purportedly sought to create a precedent because suicide assisted by a friend […]
Contributor:
Zeldin, Wendy
Date:2015-06-17
Article
Israel: Tel Aviv District Court Authorizes Avoidance of Treatment for ALS Patient
(Dec. 16, 2014) On November 23, 2014, the Tel Aviv district court issued a declaratory judgment authorizing the gradual decrease of the ventilation rate of an amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) patient to a minimum. The court required that the procedure be undertaken only upon the treating physician’s verification beyond any reasonable doubt that the patient […]
Contributor:
Levush, Ruth
Date:2014-12-16
Article
Belgium: Removal of Age Restriction for Euthanasia
(Mar. 11, 2014) On March 2, 2014, Belgium’s King Philippe signed into law an amendment to that country’s euthanasia law that would open the medically assisted suicide option to children. (Christian Laporte, Le Roi a signé la loi sur l’extension de l’euthanasie [The King Has Signed the Law Extending Euthanasia], LA LIBRE (updated Mar. 3, […]
Contributor:
Boring, Nicolas
Date:2014-03-11
Article
Belgium: Euthanasia Option May Be Extended to Children
(Dec. 17, 2013) On December 12, 2013, the Belgian Senate voted to permit euthanasia in cases of children who are terminally ill. The proposal had been approved by a Senate committee on November 27. (Jaclyn Belczyk, Belgium Senate Votes to Extend Euthanasia Law to Terminally Ill Minors, PAPER CHASE NEWSBURST (Dec. 13, 2013); Proposition de […]
