[Legal issues of physician-assisted euthanasia part I--terminology and historical overview].
Under German criminal law, euthanasia assisted by the attending physician involves the risk of criminal prosecution. However, in the absence of clear legal provisions, the law concerning euthanasia has been primarily developed by court rulings and jurisprudential literature in the last 30 years. According to a traditional classification there are four categories of euthanasia: help in the dying process, direct active euthanasia, indirect active euthanasia and passive euthanasia. However, there is still no generally accepted definition for the general term "euthanasia". The development of the law on the permissibility of euthanasia was strongly influenced by the conflict between the right of self-determination of every human being guaranteed by the Constitution and the constitutional mandate of the state to protect and maintain human life. The decisions of the German Federal Court of Justice on euthanasia in the criminal trials "Wittig" (1984), "Kempten" (1994) and "Putz" (2010) as well as the ruling of the 12th Division for Civil Matters of the Federal Court of Justice (2003) are of special importance. Some of these decisions were significantly influenced by the discussions in the jurisprudential literature. However, the German Bundestag became active for the first time as late as in 2009 when it adopted the 3rd Guardianship Amendment Act, which also contains provisions on the legal validity of a living will independent of the nature and stage of an illness. In spite of the new law, an analysis of the "Putz" case makes it especially clear that the criminal aspects of legal issues at the end of a person's life still remain controversial. It is to be expected that this issue will remain the subject of intensive discussion also in the next few years.
Institut für Rechtsmedizin am Klinikum der Universität Frankfurt/Main.
Johannes
J
Laux
Andreas
A
Röbel
Markus
M
Parzeller
D005065:Euthanasia / Q000266:history* / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence*; D005858:Germany; D049673:History, 20th Century; D049674:History, 21st Century; D006801:Humans; D012297:Right to Die / Q000266:history*; D017236:Suicide, Assisted / Q000266:history* / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence*; D009626:Terminology as Topic