Deprivation of life on demand and problem of euthanasia

Pravo na život označava poštovanje ljudskog života te je elementarno pravo čovjeka. No, pored prava na život sve češće se spominje i pravo na smrt. Pobornici prava na smrt ističu kako u slučaju teškog zdravstvenog stanja svatko ima pravo izabrati smrt i okončati svoj život. Predmet ovog diplomskog rada je problematičnost eutanazije koja predstavlja jedan od segmenata prava na smrt te njen odnos sa kaznenim djelom usmrćenja na zahtjev koje poznaje naš Kazneni zakon. Eutanazija se definira kao namjerno djelovanje ili propuštanje djelovanja koje za posljedicu ima skraćivanje ljudskog života kako bi se neizlječivom bolesniku skratile patnje. Unatoč svom altruističkom motivu, eutanazija nailazi na podijeljena mišljenja, a legalizirala ju je tek nekolicina zemalja. Republika Hrvatska nije legalizirala eutanaziju te ju naš Kazneni zakon ne poznaje. Naš Kazneni zakon poznaje kazneno djelo usmrćenja na zahtjev koje se može poistovjetiti sa eutanazijom, no za njegovo počinjenje predviđena je kazna zatvora do tri godine. Iako postoje argumenti u korist eutanazije, mnogo je argumenata koji joj se protive. Sve velike religije se oštro protive eutanaziji, a protivljenje ističe i medicinska struka koja navodi kako liječnici ne bi trebali nositi teret realizacije nečije smrti. Prema mnogima eutanazija je nemoralna i neetična jer označava okončanje nečijeg života. Neki pravni stručnjaci ističu kako bi legalizacija eutanazije dovela do mogućih zlouporaba te da nitko nema pravo odlučivati kada će tko umrijeti. Nagon za preživljavanjem je karakteristika ljudske vrste te je stoga teško shvatiti nečiju želju da umre. No, kada teška i neizlječiva bolest oduzme i zadnji dio dostojanstva i ostavi samo bol i patnju, želja za smrću dobiva svoj smisao.The right to life denotes respect of human life and is, as such, an elementary human right. However, besides the right to life, the right to die is becoming mentioned more and more often. The advocates of the right to die point out that in cases of severe medical conditions everyone has the right to choose to die and thus end their life. The topic of this thesis is the problem of euthanasia, which is one of the segments of the right to die, and its relation to the criminal act of deprivation of life on demand that is present in our Criminal Law. Euthanasia is defined as an intentional activity or failing to take action, both of which have as a consequence shortening of human life in order to end suffering of a terminally ill person. Despite its altruistic motivation, the opinions on euthanasia are divided, and it has been legalised by only a small number of countries. The Republic of Croatia has not legalised euthanasia and it is not recognised under our Criminal Law. Croatian Criminal Law recognises a criminal act of deprivation of life on demand which can be equated with euthanasia; however, a three-year prison sentence is punishment for committing such a crime. Although there are some arguments in favour of euthanasia, there are also many who against it. All major religions fiercely oppose euthanasia, as well as the medical profession which emphasises that doctors should not be burdened with inflicting death to someone. According to many, euthanasia is immoral and unethical as it denotes ending someone's life. Some legal experts point out that legalisation of euthanasia would lead to possible abuse, and argue that no-one has the right to decide when another person should die. Survival instinct is a human characteristic which makes it difficult to understand why anyone would like to die. However, when a severe and terminal illness takes away the last bit of a person’s dignity and all that is left are pain and suffering, the desire to die begins to make sense