Euthanasia

The aim of this Master's degree thesis is an overall assessment of the issue of euthanasia and a consideration of its possible legal regulation. In order to accomplish this aim it was necessary to carry out an analysis of foreign legislations of euthanasia. Furthermore, I have dealt in this thesis with the current status of euthanasia under the legal order of the Czech Republic with primary emphasis on criminal law. This thesis consists in total of four chapters. Chapter One deals with the most general matters of euthanasia, in particular with the matter of the term itself, usually determined forms and historical developments of attitudes towards euthanasia. Chapter Two compares foreign legislations of euthanasia and their impact on practice. Chapter Three clarifies the status of euthanasia in respect of the Czech legal order, in particular from the perspective of criminal law, in respect of recent legislative efforts for its legal regulation and considerations of possible future legal development. The last chapter deals with fundamental arguments of supporters and dissenters of euthanasia and provides its summarizing assessment. The conclusion, which I have reached while working on this thesis, is kind of a compromise. I suppose that legalization of euthanasia does not stand for a right direction,..