Haas v Switzerland: ECHR 20 Jan 2011

The applicant was severely bipolar, and wanted to obtain a lethal dose of a drug to kill himself, but could not do so, because Swiss law required him to get a prescription, and, before he could do that, he needed a psychiatric assessment. Relying on Article 8 of the Convention, the applicant complained that his right to decide how and when to end his life had been breached. The applicant has been suffering from a serious bipolar affective disorder for about twenty years. During this period he has twice attempted suicide and has stayed in psychiatric hospitals on several occasions. On 1 July 2004 he became a member of Dignitas, an association which offers, among other services, assistance with suicide. Taking the view that his illness, for which treatment is difficult, made it impossible for him to live with dignity, the applicant asked Dignitas to assist him in ending his life. He approached several psychiatrists to obtain the necessary lethal substance, namely 15 grams of sodium pentobarbital, which is available only on prescription, but was unsuccessful.
Held: ‘The Court considers that an individual’s right to decide by what means and at what point his or her life will end, provided he or she is capable of freely reaching a decision on this question and acting in consequence, is one of the aspects of the right to respect for private life within the meaning of Article 8 of the Convention.’

Christos Rozakis, P
[2011] ECHR 2422, (2011) 53 EHRR 33, 31322/07
Bailii
European Convention on Human Rights 8
Cited by:
CitedKoch v Germany ECHR 19-Jul-2012
Article 8-1
Respect for private life
Refusal by the German courts to examine the merits of an application by a man whose wife had just committed suicide in Switzerland after having attempted unsuccessfully to obtain authorisation to . .
CitedNicklinson and Another, Regina (on The Application of) SC 25-Jun-2014
Criminality of Assisting Suicide not Infringing
The court was asked: ‘whether the present state of the law of England and Wales relating to assisting suicide infringes the European Convention on Human Rights, and whether the code published by the Director of Public Prosecutions relating to . .

Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Human Rights

Updated: 03 January 2022; Ref: scu.551080