2023 Theses Bachelor's

The Right to Privacy and the State’s Duty to Protect Life in the European Court of Human Rights’ Jurisprudence on Medically-Assisted Termination of Life

Gout, Victor

As Europe’s aging population increasingly views end-of-life matters as a private affair, there is a rising political demand for autonomy and the legalization of assisted-suicide and euthanasia, also known as medically-assisted termination of life (MATL). Nevertheless, European countries have not reached a legal consensus on whether such demands trump the State’s duty to protect life.

This thesis approaches the legal debate as a human rights issue confronting the State’s duty to protect life and the individual’s right to privacy, as safeguarded by Articles 2 and 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights. This thesis investigates the European Court of Human Rights’ jurisprudence on MATL, incorporating the Mortier v. Belgium (2022) case into the existing literature and offering a fresh analysis of two other cases: Pretty v. the United Kingdom (2002) and Haas v. Switzerland (2011).

This thesis demonstrates that the Court ruled that two legal frameworks comply with the Convention: criminalization with flexibility in prosecution, and legalization with regulation. However, it argues that the criminalization with flexibility in prosecution framework seems to conflict with the Court’s judgment in Mortier, which states that the State has a limited margin of appreciation when balancing its duty to protect life and the individual’s right to privacy.