Oikeudelliset uutiset, kv tietolähteet, arkisto 2011
24.1.2011
EIT: Sveitsi ei rikkonut ihmisoikeussopimusta kieltäytymällä itsemurhan avustamisesta
Euroopan ihmisoikeustuomioistuin (EIT) on perjantaina antamassaan tuomiossa katsonut, että Sveitsillä ei ollut velvollisuutta huolehtia siitä, että valittaja olisi saanut ilman reseptiä tappavaa ainetta (natrium pentobarbitaali), jotta valittaja olisi voinut tehdä itsemurhan.
EIT:n lehdistötiedotteesta:Although the Court recognised that Mr Haas might have wished to commit suicide safely, with dignity and without excessive pain, it was nevertheless of the opinion that the requirement under Swiss law for a medical prescription in order to obtain sodium pentobarbital had a legitimate aim, namely to protect people from taking hasty decisions and to prevent abuse. That was all the more true in a country such as Switzerland, which readily allowed assisted suicide (see above).
The Court considered that the risk of abuse inherent in a system which facilitated assisted suicide could not be underestimated. The Court agreed with the Swiss Government’s argument that the restriction on access to sodium pentobarbital was intended to protect health and public safety and to prevent crime. It also shared the view of the Federal Court that the right to life obliged States to put in place a procedure apt to ensure that a decision to end one’s life did in fact reflect the free will of the party concerned. The Court considered that the need for a prescription, issued on the basis of a full psychiatric report, constituted a means of fulfilling that requirement.
It remained to be settled whether Mr Haas had had effective access to a medical report that would have allowed him to obtain the sodium pentobarbital (if not, his right to choose when and how he died would have been theoretical and illusory). However, the Court was not persuaded that he had been unable to find a specialist willing to assist him as he had claimed.
Given the above considerations and having regard to the margin of appreciation enjoyed by the national authorities on this issue, the Court concluded, unanimously, that there had been no violation of Article 8.
Koko lehdistötiedote: Haas v. Switzerland
EIT:n tuomio (ranskaksi): Haas v. Switzerland
