On December 11, 2020, the Austrian Constitutional Court (VfGH) ruled that the prohibition of “helping people to commit suicide” violates the right to self-determination. Killing on demand, however, remains a criminal offense.
The VfGH declared the offense of “aiding and abetting” suicide in Section 78 of the Criminal Code to be unconstitutional from December 31, 2021. The court held that the provision violated one’s right to self-determination since it laid down a blanket ban on assisting a person in dying without providing for any exceptions. The provision will come into force on December 31, 2021.
Press releases
The Austrian Right to Die Society ÖGHL came with a press release (German).
An English version of it can be read here.
Also the Swiss organization DIGNITAS – To live with Dignity, to die with Dignity – came with a press release, in both German and English:
Read more
Read more on the website of ORF, and in:
- The Local (Austria’s news in English): https://www.thelocal.at/20201212/austria-court-rules-ban-on-assisted-suicide
- The Jurist: https://www.jurist.org/news/2020/12/austria-constitutional-court-strikes-down-ban-on-assisted-death/
- The Good Death Society blog: https://www.thegooddeathsocietyblog.net/2020/12/20/austrias-constitutional-court-rules-in-favor-of-assisted-suicide/
Austria