Living through dying: the case for the legalisation of assisted dying based on the rights to life and freedom from ill-treatment in the European Convention on Human Rights

Stevie Martin

Chapter 10 in Research Handbook on Human Rights Law and Health, 2025, pp 221-248 from Edward Elgar Publishing

Abstract: Much has been written about the rights implications of legalising assisted dying. Yet, two rights have received comparatively little attention insofar as they might support a right to be assisted to die. The first, the right to life (Article 2 European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR)), has traditionally operated as a strong reason for not permitting assisted dying. Whether it be the need to protect the life of individuals vulnerable to undue pressure or because life is sacred (i.e., protecting life stricto sensu), right to life arguments have rarely featured as a basis for challenging bans on assisted dying, and when they have, they have been swiftly dismissed by courts in the United Kingdom and the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR). So too, the right to freedom from inhuman or degrading treatment (Article 3 ECHR) has found little favour in challenges to bans on assisted dying within the Council of Europe context. This chapter flips the prevailing narrative surrounding such rights and their role in the assisted dying debate. Re-examining the rights to life and freedom from ill-treatment as enshrined in the ECHR from the point of view of a right to be assisted to die, this chapter demonstrates the weaknesses in the reasons proffered by the domestic courts and the ECtHR for rejecting challenges to bans on assisted dying based on Articles 2 and/or 3 ECHR and formulates arguments in favour of such provisions conferring a right to access assistance in dying.

Keywords: Assisted dying; Right to life; Dignity; Inhuman or degrading treatment (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
ISBN: 9781803928029
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