Euthanasia in the Netherlands: A legal perspective and the public debate

PDF (ελληνικά) PDF (English)
Publiée : Sep 25, 2020
DOI : https://doi.org/10.12681/bioeth.24844
Malgorzata Wistuba
Student, Bachelor of Laws LLB., Leiden University, the Netherlands.
Résumé

Euthanasia and assisted suicide is made legal only in four countries in Europe, the countries being: The Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg and Switzerland. Euthanasia and assisted suicide is not only a legal question, how would the legislation look like technically speaking, but it is also a controversial topic which many countries are not ready to discuss. In addition to the legal aspects, other aspects are also associated with this issue. The question that always arises is whether the community feels the necessity for this kind of legislation. The aim of this article is to familiarise the reader with the euthanasia legislation in The Netherlands and the public debate surrounding it. The article will give an overview and explanation of the current legislation.

Firstly, the creation of the current legislation will be discussed, followed by an explanation of the current legislation on the basis of two cases that will be discussed in greater detail. In addition, attention will also be paid to other ending of life possibilities and concluded with the public debate on the legislation.
Article Details
  • Rubrique
  • Original Articles
Creative Commons License

Ce travail est disponible sous la licence Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International .

Authors who publish with this journal agree to the following terms:

  • Authors retain copyright and grant the journal right of first publication with the work simultaneously licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution  CC BY 4.0 License, which allows for immediate free access to the work and permits any user to read, download, copy, distribute, print, search, or link to the full texts of articles, crawl them for indexing, pass them as data to software, or use them for any other lawful purpose. Appropriate credit must be given by citing the author(s) and the original publication in this journal.
  • Authors are able to enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements for the non-exclusive distribution of the journal's published version of the work (e.g. post it to an institutional repository or publish it in a book), with an acknowledgement of its initial publication in this journal.

We encourage authors to deposit their articles, as well as data underlying the publications, in institutional and/or other appropriate subject repositories.

Bioethica permits and encourages authors to archive the final publication pdf  in institutional (e.g. the repository of the National Hellenic Research Foundation) or other appropriate subject repositories (e.g. SSOAR repository for social sciences),  in compliance with institutional and/or funder open access policies, after publication in the BIOETHICA. Authors must provide bibliographic details that credit publication in the journal, as well as related funding details (when applicable).

Lists of institutional and other subject-based academic open access repositories can be found listed by country at the registry http://opendoar.org/countrylist.php   

If your institution does not possess a repository you may deposit a copy of your paper at no cost with www.zenodo.org , the repository supported for open access research in the EU by the European Commission, through the project OpenAIRE (www.openaire.eu )

Téléchargements
Les données relatives au téléchargement ne sont pas encore disponibles.
Références
Explanatory memorandum on the Law Review of Life Termination and Life Termination, 26691 nr. 3, 1999. Available at https://zoek.officielebekendmakingen.nl/kst-26691-3.html.
Coalition agreement 1998, letter from the formator, 26024 nr. 10, 1998. Available at https://zoek.officielebekendmakingen.nl/kst-26024-10.html.
Looking for standards for doctors' actions when asked for help with termination of life while suffering. Available at file:///C:/Users/Gosia%20Wistuba/Downloads/Commissie_Dijkhuis.pdf.
Law Review of Life Termination and Life Termination. Available at https://wetten.overheid.nl/BWBR0012410/2014-02-15.
Regional Euthanasia Review Committees Regulation. https://zoek.officielebekendmakingen.nl/stcrt-1998-101-p10-SC14079.html.
Dutch Civil Code, Book 7, Section 7.7.5. Available at http://www.dutchcivillaw.com/civilcodebook077.htm.
Dutch Criminal Code. Available at https://www.legislationline.org/download/id/6415/file/Netherlands_CC_am2012_en.pdf.
Burial and Cremation law. Available at https://wetten.overheid.nl/BWBR0005009/2018-08-01.
Court decision: HR 21 April 2020, 19/04910 (Written declaration patient with dementia). Available at https://www.legalintelligence.com/documents/34026776?srcfrm=basic+search&docindex=1&stext=euthanasie&rid=844546e7-8c1b-4296-8d1f-0080d3473509.
Court decision: HR 16 April 2019, JIN 2019/74 ( Case Heringa). Available at https://www.legalintelligence.com/documents/32024346?srcfrm=basic+search&docindex=3&stext=euthanasie%20heringa&rid=4d0564ee-e5e4-47e7-8ebf-93ab1db5cc2a.
The Perspectief research: Perspectives on the death wish of elderly people who are not seriously ill: the people and the numbers. Available at https://www.zonmw.nl/fileadmin/zonmw/documenten/Ouderen/Voltooid_Leven/ZonMw_A4_HPO_def-online-3_spread.pdf.
The Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms. Available at https://www.echr.coe.int/Documents/Convention_ENG.pdf.
Anniversary research by Maurice de Hond, Pill of Drion. Available at https://home.noties.nl/peil/40jaar/G1.pdf.