Last rites or rights at last: The development of a right to die in Irish constitutional law

Abstract

Abstract Death has been viewed in cultural terms in Ireland more as rite than right. This view is rooted in deontological ideas about the intrinsic value of life. The sanctity-of-life model has been the dominant model in Irish legal discourse on the topic of the right to life. This model rather than being a flexible one, adapting to the needs of an evolving societal framework, is absolutist. It finds expression in the Irish Constitution of 1937 with its homage to the ideals of classical natural law theory. In recent years, this model has been subject to challenge from another model which appears to offer more in terms of respecting individual autonomy. Following the recent Supreme Court decision in the case of Re A Ward of Court ([1995] 2 ILRM 401), one could argue that Irish constitutional jurisprudence may be commencing to question the traditional sanctity-of-life model in more vehement terms than heretofore. This paper attempts to chart this judicial shift and place it in the context of the more genera...