Prawnokarne ujęcie eutanazji w Austrii – uwagi do orzeczenia austriackiego Trybunału Konstytucyjnego z 11.12.2020 r., G 139/2019

Abstract

International organisations consistently refuse to take a stand on worldview issues, leaving relevant rulemaking to domestic legislatures. Therefore, it is the state’s privilege and responsibility at the same time to develop legal regulations in this field. Progress in medicine and steadily growing life expectancy have caused the issues of in vitro fertilisation, abortion and euthanasia to be of more import. On 11 December 2020, the Austrian Constitutional Court issued a judgment (in G 139/2019) which may be deemed groundbreaking for the admissibility of euthanasia in Austria. This ruling may also be significant for legal systems in other count ries. Therefore, this paper takes as its subject-matter the aforementioned judgment of the Austrian Constitutional Court. The objective was to analyse it and its legal effects. The research question was formulated as follows: what changes will the judgment of the Austrian Constitutional Court of 11 December 2020 in G 139/2019 bring in Austria’s criminal legal reaction to euthanasia? The article describes the provisions applicable in Austria which penalise crimes against life, presents the historical background of assisted suicide in Austrian law, analyses the ruling of the Austrian Constitutional Court, and draws final conclusions. The most important conclusions arising from the research are that one must continuously review whether the provisions of criminal law concerning crimes against life are adequate to the current reality and that the potential admissibility of euthanasia inextricably involves further changes to the law – the lawmakers would have to specify its legal conditions and regulate the procedure itself.