Law on euthanasia (Belgium)

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Basic data
Title: Law on assisted suicide
Type: Federal law (Belgium)
Scope: Kingdom of Belgium
Legal matter: Criminal law , medical law
Issued on: May 28, 2002
( BS of June 22, 2002, p. 28515; German: BS of June 12, 2003, p. 31821 [1] )
Entry into force on: September 23, 2002
Last change by: Law of February 28, 2014
(BS of March 12, 2014, p. 21053) [2]
Effective date of the
last change: 		March 22, 2014
Please note the note on the applicable legal version.

The law on euthanasia ( Dutch Wet concerning de euthanasie ; French Loi relative à l'euthanasie ) is a law of the Kingdom of Belgium that came into force in 2002 and allows active euthanasia .

Content of the law

According to the provisions of the law, euthanasia is permitted under three conditions:

  • The patient must be of legal age (or a minor who has been declared of legal age) and must be capable of acting and conscious at the time of the request for euthanasia.
  • The request for euthanasia must be formulated voluntarily, deliberately and repeatedly and must not have come about through external pressure.
  • The patient must find himself in a medically hopeless situation and plead with persistent, unbearable physical or psychological agony which cannot be alleviated and which is the result of a serious and incurable accident or illness-related condition.

The doctor performing the euthanasia must do this voluntarily, no one can be forced to do so.

The doctor's procedure is strictly prescribed by law. Consultations on the patient's condition and the possibilities of palliative medicine are required as legally prescribed conditions. The consultation of a second independent doctor and the observance of a waiting period of at least one month between the written request of the patient and the euthanasia are mandatory.

A doctor who has carried out euthanasia must then submit a report to the Federal Control and Evaluation Commission. The commission, made up of eight medical doctors, four of whom are professors at a Belgian university, four lawyers and four people "from circles dealing with terminally ill patients", has to check compliance with the law.

Emergence

The law, based on the Dutch Euthanasia Act, was passed on May 28, 2002 after a two-year debate that led to the decriminalization of active euthanasia. It was published in the Belgian State Gazette on June 22, 2002 and entered into force on September 23, 2002.

A supplementary law was passed on November 10, 2005, containing provisions relating to the role of the pharmacist and the use and availability of lethal substances . These make it clear that a pharmacist who dispenses a lethal substance on the basis of a prescription under the Euthanasia Act is not committing a criminal offense. The pharmacist must give the substance to the doctor personally.

On December 13, 2013, the Belgian Senate decided to extend the law to minors. The regulations that have been in effect since 2002 are to be tightened for minors, so active euthanasia should only be permitted in the case of unbearable physical pain that cannot be relieved, but not in the case of mental illness. In addition to the declared will of the minors a written consent of the parents is just as necessary as medical and adolescent psychiatric reports. Active euthanasia for children and adolescents was discussed intensely in Belgium, with the large religious communities in particular speaking out against the expansion of the law. The Belgian Chamber of Deputies approved the law on February 13, 2014 and it was executed by the King on February 28, 2014.

literature

  • Belgium: Euthanasia Act (2002). In: Jörn Lorenz: Euthanasia - A draft law. Baden-Baden 2008, ISBN 978-3-8329-3822-2 and Zurich / St. Gallen 2008, ISBN 978-3-03751-115-2 , pp. 271–288
  • Royal Decree of February 10, 2003 - official German translation of the law of May 28, 2002 on euthanasia . In: Belgisches Staatsblatt, 2nd edition of June 12, 2003 , p. 31821
  • Royal Decree of January 27, 2006 - official German translation of the law of November 10, 2005 supplementing the law of May 28, 2002 on euthanasia . In: Belgisches Staatsblatt of April 12, 2006 , p. 20192
  • Wet concerning de euthanasie / Loi relative à` l'euthanasie. In: Belgisches Staatsblatt of June 22, 2002 , p. 28515
  • Loi complétant la loi du 28 may 2002 relative à l'euthanasie par des dispositions concernant le rôle du pharmacien et l'utilisation et la disponibilité des substances euthanasiantes. In: Belgisches Staatsblatt of December 13, 2005 , p. 53613
  • Erratum. In: Belgisches Staatsblatt of 25 September 2006 , p. 49892
  • Draft law amending the law of 28 May 2002 on euthanasia with a view to extending it to minors. Document of the Belgian Chamber 53K3245001 ( fr. / NDL. - Text adopted)

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Michael Stabenow: Belgium allows euthanasia for children . In: Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung . December 13, 2013 ( online ).
  2. ↑ Belgium wants to allow euthanasia for children. In: Zeit Online. November 27, 2013, accessed October 23, 2019 .
  3. ↑ Belgium also allows euthanasia for children. In: FAZ.net (Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung). February 14, 2014, accessed October 23, 2019 .