In the Netherlands, the lawsuit about assisted suicide from a son (Albert Heringa) to his mother (Moek Heringa) has come to an end. On the 16th of April, the Dutch Supreme Court reached its final verdict: that the ruling of the Court of Appeal from 2018, that Heringa was punishable to the crime of assisted suicide, could hold stand. The Supreme Court could follow the reasoning of the Court of Appeal that Heringa could not rely on ‘force majeure’. The Supreme Court emphasized that there were alternatives for Albert Heringa, for instance trying to convince his mother not to commit suicide. Another alternative was engaging physicians in the situation.
The Dutch Right to Die Society NVVE is disappointed in the verdict. Albert Heringa and his lawyers are considering now whether they will bring this case to the European Court of Human Rights.