scholarly journals Is there a human right to be assisted in dying? [Temos um direito humano a ser assistido na morte?]

2016 ◽  
Vol 23 (41) ◽  
pp. 75-104
Author(s):  
Milene Tonetto

This paper will focus on the issue of whether it is plausible to think about a human right to be assisted in dying. The right to be assisted in dying cannot be considered just a right of non-interference. It is better understood as a claim right because it demands assistance and positive actions. I will argue that the principles of individual autonomy and Kant’s notion of dignity taken independently cannot be considered plausible justification for the human right to be assisted in dying. Griffin’s personhood account points out that principles of liberty, minimum provision and autonomy must be taken together to justify human rights. Based on his theory, I will argue that a person with a terminal disease who was aware of her imminent death or who suffered from an intractable, incurable, irreversible disease may waive the right to life and choose death. Therefore, the right to life would not restrict the human right to be assisted in dying and a state that allowed the practice of assisted dying would not be disrespecting the human right to life. This article will defend that the personhood account is able to protect vulnerable people from making decisions under pressure and avoid the slippery slope objection.

2021 ◽  
pp. 159-170
Author(s):  
Majida Lubura

A basic human right - the right to life, even today faces numerous questions when it comes to its scope. One of those questions is the issue of the right to abortion, which is the subject of numerous controversies among lawyers, philosophers, medical workers, theologists, as well as among citizens in the broadest sense. Debates that exist in various scientific disciplines indicate the complexity of these issues that needs to be legally regulated at the domestic and international level. For that reason, it is necessary to follow and study the judgments of international bodies that have been passed in connection with this issue. As the most developed system of Human Rights protection has been established within the European Convention on Human Rights, and at the same time the most relevant for our country, in this paper the author studies the current practice of the European Court of Human Rights related to the right to abortion. It is evident, from the case law presented in this paper that the Court had a very delicate and difficult task to balance between diametrically opposing rights and interests of various interested parties. The Court's judgments show a consensus only regarding the question of the existence of the right to abortion in cases where the right to life and health of women is endangered. Opponents of abortion claim that in this case, it is not the right to abortion, but the right to life of a woman and that only then an abortion is allowed and justified to be performed, as well as that it is a conclusion that can be deduced from the Court's case law. However, the author of this paper believes that even though the practice of the court is quite neutral, it still tends more towards granting the right to safe abortion.


2013 ◽  
pp. 54-64
Author(s):  
Saurav Ghimire

If one is born in the right part of the world and in right social class, the problem of being hungry has its solution in the nearest refrigerator. However, if the situation is reverse, one may go hungry throughout one’s short life, as 800million born in the wrong place and in wrong social class are doing as we discuss the concern. Peace cannot exist where the hunger prevails as the former signifies not merely the absence of armed conflict but the establishment of human rights for all people, and no human right is worth anything to a starving person. That is why the freedom from hunger is fundamental to live as human being and is a necessary part of right to life.


2016 ◽  
Vol 65 (5) ◽  
Author(s):  
Joseph Meaney ◽  
Marina Casini ◽  
Emanuela Midolo ◽  
Antonio G. Spagnolo

Gli autori affrontano la questione del criterio da seguire per risolvere le situazioni in cui i diritti umani legalmente riconosciuti entrano in conflitto tra loro. La questione è aggravata dalla mancanza di consenso per quanto riguarda le priorità tra i diritti umani. Tuttavia, gli autori ritengono che quando è in gioco il diritto alla vita, questo – sia dal punto di vista etico che giuridico – dovrebbe prevalere sulle rivendicazioni di altri diritti, quanto meno nella sua formulazione negativa (non cagionare la morte). Si tratta infatti, logicamente e cronologicamente del più fondamentale dei diritti. Gli autori ritengono che vi sia una forte logica a stabilire una priorità tra le tre generazioni di diritti umani andando dal più al meno importante. È comunque un utile esercizio quello di esaminare – nella dimensione del conflitto tra diritti – la questione del diritto al rispetto della coscienza nell’ambito sanitario, cercando di stabilire l’ordine delle priorità. Gli autori approvano la posizione assunta da legislazioni e decisioni giudiziarie che generalmente assicurano il riconoscimento del diritto al rispetto della coscienza per gli operatori sanitari.The authors raise the question of what should be done when legally recognized human rights come into conflict. This serious problem is further complicated by a lack of consensus concerning prioritization among human rights. Nevertheless, the authors believe that a solid legal and ethical case can be made that the right to life should trump other human rights claims, particularly in its negative version. It is in fact, logically and chronologically the most basic human right. The authors believe that there is a strong logic to prioritizing the three generations of human rights as generally more important to less so. Viewing the problem of conscience rights in healthcare settings through the prism of conflicting rights and attempting to determine which rights should prevail is also a helpful exercise. The authors concur with the generally high position that the human right of conscience of healthcare professionals has been granted in most legislation and court decisions on the issue.


2021 ◽  
pp. 107-160
Author(s):  
William A. Schabas

Human dignity is not necessarily treated as a human right per se, but it may describe in particular several of the most fundamental rights that concern physical and psychological integrity: the right to life, the prohibition of torture and ill treatment, the prohibition of slavery and servitude, the right to liberty and security, and the recognition as a person before the law. Within these rubrics, some quite specific issues are addressed including the resort to capital punishment and other extreme penalties, the criminalisation of genocide, and the imposition of medical treatment. The references to dignity in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights appear to make up for the absence of any recognition of a supreme being,


2019 ◽  
Vol 29 (6) ◽  
pp. 853-862
Author(s):  
Theofilos Gkinopoulos

In this comment, I focus on the integration of memories and human rights. The claim for the “self-evident” declares the claim for human rights not only of minorities, or oppressed and forgotten groups but, more broadly, of the self and different others. I consider human rights as they emerge from the content of intergenerational nostalgic memories and are reflected on the right to remember, the right to forget, the right to long for the past, and the right to life. I give a brief account of studies on intergenerational nostalgic memories and I argue for remembering processes as a fundamental human right. Finally, I discuss theoretical implications of integrating memory studies and human rights debates.


2021 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
pp. 105-113
Author(s):  
Flora Pricilla Kalalo

Human rights and the environment are interconnected and mutually reinforcing. The concern of a group of people for the environment is not enough because changes in an environment have an impact not only locally, but often globally. Therefore it can be said that in countries where there are many violations of human rights, environmental damage often occurs. What happened then was that the human right to have a healthy life (the right to a healthy environment) was violated or sidelined. In addition, development that is not controlled can result in human rights being violated. Regulations regarding human rights are not entirely related to environmental protection. However, if you pay attention, there are several articles in some of these provisions that can be used as a legal basis for taking various actions aimed at protecting the environment. On the other hand, regulation of environmental protection at the same time means respect for human rights, especially with regard to issues of the right to life, health problems, disturbance of their property to respect for indigenous peoples' rights.


2021 ◽  
Vol 7 (2) ◽  
pp. 241
Author(s):  
Erin Elizabeth Davis

The right to adequate housing is an internationally recognized human right, yet it has been incontrovertibly desecrated by a lack of recognition, disproportionately affecting vulnerable groups. Economic, social, and cultural rights have encountered many challenges in an ever-increasing era of international exceptionalism and challenges arise in the protection of these rights. The right to housing is achieved in two ways: as a normative right and as a derivative right encompassed within economic, social, and cultural rights. This article introduces: (1) the normative development of economic, social, and cultural rights as recognized human rights, and their regulatory implementation through international instruments; (2) the concept of individuals as right-holders and duty-bearers of economic, social, and cultural rights; (3) understanding how the restriction of the right to housing leads to the violation of other human rights, including (a) the right to life, (b) the right to freedom from discrimination, and (c) the right to humane treatment – and the types of vulnerable groups that face the most discrimination, such as indigenous persons and women; and (4) protection against forced evictions, through an examination of the jurisprudence of the Inter-American System, European Court of Human Rights, and African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights.


2013 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 237
Author(s):  
Dr.Sc. Stavri Sinjari ◽  
Mr.Sc. Rezana Balla

The right to life constitutes one of the main human rights and freedoms, foreseen by article 21 of the Albanian Constitution and article 2 of European Human Rights Convention. No democratic or totalitarian society can function without guarantees and protection of the human right to lifeWe intend to address these issues on our article: What is life. What we legally understand with life. When the life starts and finish. How this right has evolved. Which is the state interest on protecting the life. Should we consider that the life is the same for all. Should the state interfere at any cost to protect the life. Is there any criminal charge for responsible persons to the violation of this right. Is this issue treated by European Human Rights Court. What are the Albanian legal provisions on protection of this right.This research is performed mainly according to a comparative and analytical methodology. Comperative analysis will be present almost throughout the paper. Treatment of issues of this research will be achieved through a system comparable with international standards in particular and the most advanced legislation in this area. At the same time, this research is conducted by analytical and statistical data processing. We believe that our research will make a modest contribution, not only to the legal literature, but also to criminal policy makers, law makers, lawyers and attorneys.


2012 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 27
Author(s):  
Temelko Risteski ◽  
Elena Todorova ◽  
Sejdefa Džafče ◽  
Anita Gligorova

Objective: To define the concept of healthy climate and in this regard to determine the relationship between the right to healthy environment and right to life, as top human right, from a legal and ethical aspects.Results: Analysis of international legislation on environment, climate and human rights, and laws on nature protection, environment and other environmental laws of the Republic of Macedonia and other countries of Southeast Europe, based on the facts of climate change, shows that these changes affect the quality of life and therefore the exercise of the right to a healthy life.Conclusion: The right to life is top human right. All other human rights are subordinate to it. It is healthy climate in which the weather as a meteorological phenomenon is mostly compatible with the physiological states of human organisms, most of the average healthy people, and allows normal physiological functions. Normal physiological functions of the organism has a direct impact on human health. Human health is directly in function of life. It makes life healthy and happy. Only healthy and happy life is a real human life. All the troubles in life can be overcome if the person is healthy. It is a notorious fact. Thus, the right to a healthy climate is in function of the right to life.


Author(s):  
A.P Lutsenko ◽  
D.I. Khairullina

This article is devoted to the study of the legal regulation of the institution of euthanasia in foreign practice and in Ukrainian law. We conducted a thorough analysis of the existing arguments for and against the legalization of the assisted suicide procedure, which have developed in scientific doctrine. Given the importance of the right to life in the fundamental human rights system, deprivation of any life is unacceptable, as it could set a precedent that would lead to the abuse of criminal intent by the possibility of masking premeditated murder with voluntary consent to accelerate biological death. That is why today in Ukraine deprivation of life at the request of a person is a crime, namely premeditated murder, and therefore euthanasia at the state level is now criminalized. However, after analyzing the views of scholars studying the dynamics of human rights, as well as paying attention to the practice of countries that have already legalized euthanasia at the state level, we concluded that assisted suicide today is a powerful mechanism that can guarantee the human right to a dignified existence at the end of her life. A number of foreign countries have shown by their example that the legalization of euthanasia is an important step towards building a more humane and humane society, where there is a place of mercy for terminally ill people who want to end their lives painlessly. The current position of the Constitutional Court of Ukraine on the interpretation of the right to life does not allow for its expanded understanding, and therefore there is a need to amend the Constitution (for example recognition of the right to die) or change the position of the Court. In order for the right to dispose of one's own life to be properly guaranteed in Ukraine as well, we have developed on the basis of our research and proposed an algorithm of actions that can be used in the implementation of the institute of assisted suicide in Ukraine. We emphasize the need to amend the Constitution of Ukraine or change the position of the Constitutional Court on the interpretation of the right to life and the development of an appropriate legal framework that should take into account the medical side of this issue.


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