SHOULD EUTHANASIA BE A SOLUTION TO THE PROBLEM OF "DECENT" DEATH? (ON THE EXAMPLE OF THE CASE LAMBERT AND OTHERS V. FRANCE)

Abstract

The legal and bioethical problem of legalizing involuntary passive euthanasia as a practice of ending a person’s life, which in particular is in a minimal conscious state and with disabilities, on the example of the case Lambert and Others v. France of the European Court of Human Rights, is explored in this article. Due to the differences between the national legislation of the states on the regulation of euthanasia and given the lack of the international consensus on this issue, as well as the unified position of the judges on the legality of its application in the context of protecting the right to life on the basis of Art. 2 and 3 of the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms of 1950, the need to ensure adequate medical care and treatment guaranteed by the state in order to maintain/prolong a person’s life (first of all, artificial hydration and nutrition, mechanical ventilation, cardiopulmonary resuscitation, blood transfusions, dialysis, etc.), and subsequent rehabilitation, as well as palliative care as an alternative to euthanasia, is emphasized. Mandatory compliance with the principle of prohibition of discrimination against person based on health status is stressed. The consequences of using involuntary passive euthanasia, including the need to bring to legal liability, are analyzed.
Keywords: involuntary passive euthanasia, "decent" death, right to life, European Court of Human Rights, discrimination.

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