Eutanasia: legal regulation in european countries and prospects for legalization in Ukraine

Abstract

The article is devoted to a comparative legal study of the legalization of euthanasia in European countries and Ukraine. The authors have investigated the changes in the ECHR positions in the consideration of cases of euthanasia and assisted suicide. We concluded that the decisions of the European Court of Human Rights include an attempt to guarantee a balance in the right to choose the moment of death and the rights that are protected by 2 and 8 of the Convention on Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms. The ECHR practice has been found to also influence the legalization of euthanasia in European states. Analysis of the laws of several European states in the context of legalizing the institution of euthanasia allowed us to group them as follows: European states that have legalized euthanasia (Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg, Switzerland, and Spain); European states that have legalized only passive euthanasia (Great Britain, Ireland, Latvia, Norway, Slovak Republic, Finland, Sweden, and Hungary); and European states that prohibit any kind of euthanasia (France, Poland, Romania, etc.). Keywords: Euthanasia. Dignified death. Suicide. Right to death. Law.