[Recent case law about the right to die]

Area of Science:

• Law and Bioethics
• Comparative Legal Studies
• Medical Ethics

Background:

• Judicial decisions from 1993-2002 across Canada, the US, UK, and European Human Rights Court addressed the legality of assisted suicide.
• A historical judicial consensus recognized patient autonomy in refusing treatment but not physician-assisted suicide.

Purpose of the Study:

• To analyze the evolution of legal perspectives on the right to die and physician-assisted suicide.
• To identify shifts in judicial consensus regarding medical assistance in dying.

Main Methods:

• Comparative legal analysis of Supreme Court and European Human Rights Court rulings.
• Review of case law concerning the prohibition and acceptance of assisted suicide.

Main Results:

• A consistent judicial consensus existed between 1993 and 2002, affirming the right to refuse medical treatment but prohibiting physician-assisted suicide.
• Recent legal developments in Canada and the United Kingdom indicate a departure from this consensus, acknowledging a right to medically assisted suicide for terminal patients.

Conclusions:

• The legal prohibition of assisted suicide is being re-evaluated in key jurisdictions.
• Evolving case law suggests a growing recognition of a fundamental right to medically assisted suicide for terminally ill patients.