The Netherlands

Abstract

Apart from the Northern Territory of Australia, where legislation has recently been enacted, the country which has come closest to the legalization of active voluntary euthanasia is the Netherlands. Although active voluntary euthanasia is still illegal in that country, it is now practised quite openly by the medical profession and there are very few prosecutions of doctors involved in the practice. Developments in the Netherlands have naturally attracted interest in other countries, including the United Kingdom, the United States, Canada, and Australia where there is growing pressure for the legalization of active voluntary euthanasia. The Dutch position is often cited by euthanasia proponents as a model of social reform which demonstrates the benefits of sanctioned active voluntary euthanasia and which ought to be followed in other countries. This chapter examines the law and practice with regard to active voluntary euthanasia in the Netherlands, the Dutch penal code, jurisprudential developments, and Dutch case law developments.