The right to euthanasia abroad: the experience of public law research

• Published in: Административное и муниципальное право no. 1; pp. 34 - 43
• Main Authors: Vasilevich, Dmitrii Grigor'evich, Goncharov, Vitalii Viktorovich, Potapenko, Sergei Viktorovich, Bezuglov, Sergei Vyacheslavovich
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: 01.01.2025
• ISSN: 2454-0595; 2454-0595
• DOI: 10.7256/2454-0595.2025.1.73409

This article is devoted to the public law analysis of the right to euthanasia, which is enshrined in a number of foreign countries. The subject of the analysis is the relevant provisions of foreign legislation on the possibility of depriving individuals of their lives both by themselves (with the help of third parties) and directly by third parties (by decision of the above-mentioned individuals, their relatives, as well as in a number of other cases). The right to euthanasia should be understood as the right to end a person's life by third parties, or with the help of third parties (without whom it could not be realized), carried out according to the current legislation, legal customs, or case law. Euthanasia should be distinguished from suicide, that is, taking a person's life by committing certain actions (active suicide), or by inaction resulting in death. A number of scientific research methods are used in the research: formal-logical; historical-legal; comparative-legal; statistical; sociological; method of analyzing specific legal situations. We believe that the concept of assisted suicide, which is actively used in foreign legislation when describing the human right to euthanasia (and the methods of its commission), when a person takes his own life, but with the help of third parties, is correct only in cases where the lack of the above-mentioned assistance did not affect the likelihood of death. If death would not have been possible without the aforementioned assistance of third parties, then we are not talking about assisted suicide, but about murder. The analysis and classification of the foreign legislation of a number of countries in the context of the consolidation and implementation of the right to euthanasia by individuals in these countries is carried out. The issues concerning the possibility, necessity and prospects of securing this right in the Russian Federation and the Republic of Belarus need further scientific understanding. The purpose of the research is to study the right to euthanasia as a socio-legal phenomenon, the reasons for its emergence and promotion in the legislation and judicial practice of a number of foreign countries.