The Right to physical and mental immunity in the light of the new constitution of the Republic of Armenia and modern challenges in this field in Armenia

Abstract

The Constitution of the Republic of Armenia (RA) for the first time envisaged the right to physical and mental immunity (in the former edition of personal immunity) in 2015. According to Article 25(1) of the RA Constitution, everyone shall have the right to physical and mental integrity. That right may be restricted only by law, for the purpose of state security, preventing or disclosing crimes, protecting public order, health and morals or the basic rights and freedoms of others. The bodily rights of the person, including the right to physical and mental immunity, are recognized in professional literature as somatic rights that have become a subject of vigorous debates as a new generation of human rights. In general, human somatic (bodily) rights constitute a wholeness, which includes: the right to life; the right to die or the right to choose a way of giving up one’s life (right to suicide, right to use euthanasia), etc. Current report in the light of the RA Constitution report discuss some of important issues in this field: eugenic experiments, medical intervention, organs and tissues transplantation, etc.