Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul · Hospital de Clínicas de Porto Alegre Na Internet desde 1997
Bioética Complexa Portal de Bioética · Prof. José Roberto Goldim

Código Penal Holanda - eutanásia

Texto
Fonte original (arquivada)

The Dutch Penal Code:

Article 293: any person who takes another person's life at that person's express and earnest request shall be liable to a term of imprisonment not exceeding 12 years or a fifth category fine. This article therefore applies to active voluntary euthanasia.

Article 294: any person who intentionally incites another to commit suicide, assists him in the act or provides him with the means to commit suicide shall, if suicide follows, be liable to a term of imprisonment not exceeding 3 years or a forth category fine. This article therefore applies to physician-assisted suicide.

Article 40: any person who was compelled by force majeure ("defence of necessity") to commit an offence shall not be criminally liable. This precedes the application of article 293 or 294 where court criteria are observed before active voluntary euthanasia or assisted suicide takes place.

As a physician has the duty to preserve lives but on the other hand has the duty to relieve suffering to a minimum, a conflict of duties may arise. When a physician performs euthanasia or assists with suicide, it is seen as a defence of necessity. This applies to physicians only, as no one else has these two duties.

Strictly, neither voluntary euthanasia nor assisted suicide has been legalised or decriminalised in Holland. They remain offences, although physicians will not be prosecuted when they have met the substantive requirements published by the Royal Dutch Medical Association. These requirements are abstracted from Dutch court decisions over the last 25 years and are seen as criteria guaranteeing careful and thorough medical acting.

Requirements:

  • The patient makes a voluntary request, either vocal or written
  • The request must be well considered and durable
  • The patient suffers without any hope of recovering
  • The physician consults a colleague who agrees that the above mentioned criteria are met
  • The physician performing euthanasia or assisted suicide does not issue a declaration of natural death, but informs the local medical examiner of the circumstances.

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