Amendments to the Belgian Law on Euthanasia: Implications for Practitioners and Euthanasia Practice

Significant amendments to the Belgian Act on Euthanasia were passed in March 2024. The amendments altered the registration form which physicians submit for oversight after the patient has died, the penalties for non-compliance with the law, and the potential liability of practitioners who provide an independent advice in a euthanasia assessment. Two of these amendments addressed judgements delivered by the Belgian Constitutional Court and the European Court of Human Rights. These amendments may have several positive impacts on euthanasia practice, including enhancing practitioners' compliance with the legal requirements and improving legal certainty. But they may also have negative impacts on practice, including by decreasing practitioners' willingness to provide euthanasia. Both the intended and possible unintended effects of reforms to Belgium's euthanasia law should be considered before and after their enactment. This is particularly important when these reforms change provisions which were seen as important when the original law was passed.