The Emergence of Assisted Dying Legislation in Europe in Light of Supra-national Governance Failures

Abstract

Prior to 2021, assisted dying was lawful in only four European jurisdictions – the Netherlands, Belgium, Luxemburg and Switzerland.1 Over the course of the next few years, this list is likely to increase significantly. In March 2021, the Spanish Parliament passed a Bill permitting adults with ‘serious and incurable’ diseases that cause ‘unbearable suffering’ to avail of either active euthanasia or assisted suicide.2 In November 2021, the first medically assisted suicide in Italy was authorised by the ethics committee of the regional public health authority of Marche.3 This follows a decision by the Italian Constitutional Court in 2019 that assisted suicide ought to be permissible in limited circumstances.4 In addition to this, a leading Italian right-to-die association (Associazione Luca Coscioni) secured over one million signatures to force a referendum on decriminalising euthanasia – which is expected to take place in 2022 subject to judicial approval.5 Beyond these developments in Spain and Italy, the Portuguese Parliament passed two Bills in 2021 permitting active euthanasia