Les dangers d’un droit à l’euthanasie
1. Introduction Pour l’immense majorité de nos contemporains, l’heure de la mort, qu’elle soit accidentelle ou naturelle, survient sans qu’ils l’aient voulue. L’interdiction quasi-universelle de tuer reste un principe fondamental, qu’elle ait une connotation religieuse (‘Tu ne tueras point’) ou rationnelle. Les homicides, volontaires ou involontaires, engagent la responsabilité pénale et civile de ceux qui...
End-of-life issues and the European Court of Human Rights. The value of personal autonomy within a ‘proceduralized’ review
1. Introduction End-of-life issues may arise in very different situations. The scope of the present analysis is limited to situations in which termination of life is sought in the person’s alleged best interest: cases which, broadly speaking, are covered by the notion of euthanasia (from the ancient Greek ευθανασία, good death, ‘death that benefits the...
Dignity and end-of-life issues. Some open questions in light of the European Court of Human Rights’ recent case-law
Introduced by Flavia Zorzi Giustiniani As a consequence of the unrelenting advances in medical sciences, end-of-life situations are raising, more and more frequently, sensitive moral and ethical issues to which existing legal frameworks are often unable to offer clear-cut solutions. Limiting the scope of analysis to the European continent, there is still nowadays no...