The Italian Constitutional Court and the constitutionality of the criminalisation of assisted suicide of patients suffering from serious and incurable diseases

Abstract

On 16 November 2018, the Italian Constitutional Court addressed for the first time the controversial issue of the constitutionality of the criminalisation of assisted suicide of patients suffering from serious and incurable diseases. In its judgment, the Court held that the criminalisation of assisted suicide is not contrary to the Constitution, rejecting the existence of a right to die, in line with the European Court of Human Rights case law. Nevertheless, the Constitutional Court recognised that in cases of patients suffering from serious and incurable diseases, an absolute prohibition on assisted suicide could run contrary to the freedom of self-determination and the constitutional principles of human dignity and equality. The present note describes and analyses the facts of the case and the reasoning of the Constitutional Court, especially the structure of the argument and the new ‘decision technique’ adopted.