Revisiting assisted suicide or euthanasia in South Africa from a dignity perspective : a comparative analysis

Abstract

Euthanasia has been a contentious issue in South Africa and around the world for a long time. Despite some request for the decriminalisation of euthanasia in South Africa, it remains an illegal and a criminal offence in terms of South African Common Law. This means that anyone who is found assisting or having assisted a patient to take his/her own life will be guilty of murder. Despite challenges regarding the decriminalisation of euthanasia in South Africa, this study demonstrates how other constitutional rights can be used to make a case for euthanasia in general and also the right to dignity. The study analyses how courts in Canada and the Netherlands used the right to dignity to make a case for the decriminalisation of euthanasia and it shows which lessons can be drawn from the two jurisdictions as well as the jurisprudence of the Human Rights Committee of the ICCPR. This study further provides a recommendation for South Africa to adopt law that will regulate euthanasia and curb possible abuse that can emanate from cases of euthanasia. To this end, among other things, the study recommends that the proposed law should address issues of how the consent of the patient will be achieved, the state of health of the patient, the role and presence of witnesses and the monitoring and evaluation of the process.