Kriminaliseringen av eutanasi – Ett befogat straffbud gentemot den terminalt sjuka patienten?
(2022) LAGF03 20221Department of Law
Faculty of Law
- Abstract (Swedish)
- Dödshjälp innebär att en aktiv åtgärd vidtas för att avsluta en persons liv på dennes begäran. Om det är personen själv som utför den avgörande gärningen som leder till döden kallas det assisterat döende. Är det emellertid någon annan än personen som utför handlingen kallas det eutanasi. Det har identifierats ett ökat stöd hos Sveriges samhällsmedborgare, för införandet av dödshjälp i förhållande till de som lider av en terminal sjukdom. Trots detta har regleringen förblivit densamma och frågan har inte heller blivit utredd av staten.
Ageranden som utgör dödshjälp regleras delvis genom straffrätten. Syftet med denna uppsats har varit att undersöka huruvida kriminaliseringen av dödshjälp kan anses som befogad gentemot de terminalt sjuka... (More) - Dödshjälp innebär att en aktiv åtgärd vidtas för att avsluta en persons liv på dennes begäran. Om det är personen själv som utför den avgörande gärningen som leder till döden kallas det assisterat döende. Är det emellertid någon annan än personen som utför handlingen kallas det eutanasi. Det har identifierats ett ökat stöd hos Sveriges samhällsmedborgare, för införandet av dödshjälp i förhållande till de som lider av en terminal sjukdom. Trots detta har regleringen förblivit densamma och frågan har inte heller blivit utredd av staten.
Ageranden som utgör dödshjälp regleras delvis genom straffrätten. Syftet med denna uppsats har varit att undersöka huruvida kriminaliseringen av dödshjälp kan anses som befogad gentemot de terminalt sjuka patienterna. För besvarandet av uppsatsens första frågeställning beträffande när en kriminalisering anses befogad, har undersökningen utgått från utredningsbetänkandet, Vad bör straffas?. Härvid har det konstaterats att utredningen förespråkar en restriktiv användning av straffrätten och att stor hänsyn tas till samhällsutvecklingen.
Uppsatsens två resterande frågeställningar avseende kriminaliseringen av dödshjälp inklusive gränsdragningen mot det straffria respektive lagstiftarens motiv, har besvarats genom den rättsdogmatiska metoden. Genom denna har det fastställts att det endast är eutanasi som är kriminaliserat, samt att assisterat döende är förbjuden i sjukvården eftersom det anses strida mot läkaretiken. Vidare har det konstaterats att den terminalt sjuka patienten har tillgång till andra åtgärder inom den palliativa vården som kan innebära ett förkortande av dennes liv.
Vid undersökningen av lagstiftarens motiv till kriminaliseringen har det framkommit samtycket vid eutanasi inte medför ansvarsfrihet eftersom gärningen anses vara så allvarlig och etiskt oförsvarbar att den skulle innebära en skada på samhället. Med hänsyn till utredningsbetänkandet och samhällets inställning, som idag är positiv till ett införande av dödshjälp för de terminalt sjuka, har resultatet av undersökningen emellertid blivit att lagstiftaren bryter mot kriterierna för ett befogat straffbud genom att inte beakta befolkningens inställning och utreda frågan om ett införande av eutanasi i Sverige. (Less) - Abstract
- Assisted dying means that an active measure is taken to end a person's life at their request. If the person himself performs the act that leads to death, it is called assisted suicide. When someone other than the person performs the act, it is called euthanasia. There has been an increase in the support among Swedish citizens to implement assisted dying in Sweden concerning those suffering from terminal illnesses. Despite the support, the regulation has remained intact, and the state has not investigated the issue.
Actions that constitute assisted dying are partly regulated by criminal law. The purpose of this thesis has been to investigate whether the criminalization of assisted dying can be considered justified for those suffering... (More) - Assisted dying means that an active measure is taken to end a person's life at their request. If the person himself performs the act that leads to death, it is called assisted suicide. When someone other than the person performs the act, it is called euthanasia. There has been an increase in the support among Swedish citizens to implement assisted dying in Sweden concerning those suffering from terminal illnesses. Despite the support, the regulation has remained intact, and the state has not investigated the issue.
Actions that constitute assisted dying are partly regulated by criminal law. The purpose of this thesis has been to investigate whether the criminalization of assisted dying can be considered justified for those suffering from a terminal illness. In order to answer the question regarding when criminalization is considered justified, focus has been placed on the government's official investigation, What should be punished?. In doing so, it has been established that the investigation advocates a restrictive use of criminal law and that great emphasis is placed on society's attitude on the matter.
A traditional judicial method has been used to answer the questions regarding the criminalization of assisted dying, including the margin towards permitted acts and the legislator’s motive. Thereby, it has been established that only euthanasia is criminalized, and that assisted suicide is prohibited in Swedish healthcare due to it being considered contrary to medical ethics. Furthermore, the research has shown that terminally ill patients have access to other measures within palliative care that may shorten their life.
The analysis of the legislator's motives for the criminalization has revealed that the consent in euthanasia does not entail discharge from liability since the act is considered to be so severe and ethically unjustified that it would cause harm to society. However, given the government's official investigation and society's attitude, which today is positive toward the implementation of assisted dying for the terminally ill, the result of this thesis has been that the legislator violates the criteria for a justified criminalization by not considering the population's attitude and investigating the implementation of euthanasia in Sweden. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
http://lup.lub.lu.se/student-papers/record/9080778
- author
- Skarelid, Klara LU
- supervisor
- organization
- course
- LAGF03 20221
- year
- 2022
- type
- M2 - Bachelor Degree
- subject
- keywords
- Straffrätt, medicinsk rätt, dödshjälp, eutanasi, assisterat döende
- language
- Swedish
- id
- 9080778
- date added to LUP
- 2022-06-28 11:18:51
- date last changed
- 2022-06-28 11:18:51
@misc{9080778,
abstract = {{Assisted dying means that an active measure is taken to end a person's life at their request. If the person himself performs the act that leads to death, it is called assisted suicide. When someone other than the person performs the act, it is called euthanasia. There has been an increase in the support among Swedish citizens to implement assisted dying in Sweden concerning those suffering from terminal illnesses. Despite the support, the regulation has remained intact, and the state has not investigated the issue.
Actions that constitute assisted dying are partly regulated by criminal law. The purpose of this thesis has been to investigate whether the criminalization of assisted dying can be considered justified for those suffering from a terminal illness. In order to answer the question regarding when criminalization is considered justified, focus has been placed on the government's official investigation, What should be punished?. In doing so, it has been established that the investigation advocates a restrictive use of criminal law and that great emphasis is placed on society's attitude on the matter.
A traditional judicial method has been used to answer the questions regarding the criminalization of assisted dying, including the margin towards permitted acts and the legislator’s motive. Thereby, it has been established that only euthanasia is criminalized, and that assisted suicide is prohibited in Swedish healthcare due to it being considered contrary to medical ethics. Furthermore, the research has shown that terminally ill patients have access to other measures within palliative care that may shorten their life.
The analysis of the legislator's motives for the criminalization has revealed that the consent in euthanasia does not entail discharge from liability since the act is considered to be so severe and ethically unjustified that it would cause harm to society. However, given the government's official investigation and society's attitude, which today is positive toward the implementation of assisted dying for the terminally ill, the result of this thesis has been that the legislator violates the criteria for a justified criminalization by not considering the population's attitude and investigating the implementation of euthanasia in Sweden.}},
author = {{Skarelid, Klara}},
language = {{swe}},
note = {{Student Paper}},
title = {{Kriminaliseringen av eutanasi – Ett befogat straffbud gentemot den terminalt sjuka patienten?}},
year = {{2022}},
}