Abstract
In the judgment dated February 26, 2020, the German Federal Constitutional Court ("FCC") found the provision of the Criminal Code penalizing "professional" assistance in suicide inconsistent with the German Constitution. This judgment deserves attention, inter alia, due to the theses presented in it about the close relationship between the right to assisted suicide and the protection of human dignity, and about the extremely wide scope of this right. The presented considerations, taking into account the decisions of other constitutional courts in the field of assisted suicide, focus on the structure of the FCC's arguments, its axiological premises and potential implications for a wider debate on the admissibility of assisted suicide and euthanasia conducted in the context of fundamental rights.
References
Arystoteles, De anima, ed. D. Ross, Clarendon Press, Oxford 1961
A. Barak, Proportionality: Constitutional Rights and their Limitations, Cambridge 2012
L Bosek, [Komentarz do art. 31] w: M. Safjan, L. Bosek (red.), Konstytucja RP. Tom I. Komentarz do art. 1?86, Warszawa 2016
F. J. Connell, Double Effect, Principle Of, w: The New Catholic Encyclopedia, Second Edition, Detroit 2003, s. 880-802
V. Epping, Grundrechte, Heidelber 2015
Ch. Hillgruber, Die Menschenwürde und das verfassungsrechtliche Recht auf Selbstbestimmung - ein und dasselbe? Zeitschrift für Lebensrecht, 2015 nr 3
Ch. Hillgruber [Pisemne stanowisko z dnia 14.09.2015 r. dla Komisji Prawa i Ochrony Konsumentów], https://www.bundestag.de/resource/blob/387804/452c910aa854cf719f009a22ae13e6c2/hillgruber-data.pdf
G. Huscroft, Proportionality and the relevance of interpretation, w: G. Huscroft, B.W. Miller, G. Webber (red.), Proportionality and the Rule of Law: Rights, Justification, Reasoning, New York 2014, s. 186-202.
G. Huscraft, Proportionality and Pretense, Constitutional Commentary, 2014 nr 29
Y. Kamisar, Physician Assisted Suicide: The Last Bridge to Active Voluntary Euthanasia, w: J. Keown (red.), Euthanasia Examined: Ethical, Clinical and Legal Perspectives, Cambridge 1995
J. Keown, The Law and Ethics of Medicine: Essays on the Inviolability of Human Life, Oxford 2012
J. Keown, Voluntary Assisted Dying in Australia: The Victorian Parliamentary Committee's Tenuous Case for Legalization, Issues in Law & Medicine, 2018 nr 55, s. 55-84.
J. Kosonoga-Zygmunt, Obowiązek udzielenia pomocy w przypadku sprzeciwu osoby zagrożonej w świetle art. 162 kodeksu karnego, Zeszyty Prawnicze 2015 nr 1, s. 137-158
M. Kumm, The Idea of Socratic Contestation and the Right to Justification: The Point of Rights-based Proportionality Review, Law & Ethics of Human Rights, 2010 nr 2
K. Möller, Proportionality and Rights Inflation, w: G. Huscroft, B.W. Miller, G. Webber (red.), Proportionality and the Rule of Law: Rights, Justification, Reasoning, New York 2014
F. Nietzsche, Tako rzecze Zaratustra, przekł. W. Berent, Poznań 1995
M. Piechowiak, Filozofia praw człowieka: prawa człowieka w świetle ich międzynarodowej ochrony, Lublin 1999.
J. Raz, Morality of Freedom, Oxford 1986
M. Sachs, Verfassungsrecht II ? Grundrechte, Berlin Heidelberg 2017.
W.A. Schabas, The European Convention on Human Rights: A Commentary, Oxford 2015
B. Schlink, Proportionality In Constitutional Law: Why Everywhere But Here?, Duke Journal of Comparative & International Law, 2012 nr 22
G. Webber, The Negotiable Constitution: On the Limitation of Rights, Cambridge 2009.
P. Szudejko, Rozwój biologii i medycyny w świetle zasady demokratycznego państwa prawnego, Warszawa 2018.
J. Taupitz, Das Gesetz zur Strafbarkeit der geschäftsmäßigen Förderung der Selbsttötung: Die seit dem 10. Dezember 2015 geltende Rechtslage, w: Assistierter Suizid: Der Stand der Wissenschaft: mit einem Kommentar zum neuen Sterbehilfe-Gesetz, (red.) G. D. Borasio i in., Berlin Heidelberg: 2017, s. 115-136.
M.V. Tushnet, Equal protection, [w:] Oxford Companion to the Supreme Court of the United States, red. K.L. Hall, Oxford?New York 2005, s. 297?300.
A. Zoll, [art. 151], w: W. Wróbel, A. Zoll (red.), Kodeks karny. Część szczególna. Tom II. Część I. Komentarz do art. 117-211a [online]. Wolters Kluwer Polska 2017 [online],
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
Copyright (c) 2023 Forum Prawnicze