Surprise in the case opened by a father’s attempt to prevent the euthanasia of his son. The Prosecutor’s Office appealed to the Superior Court of Justice of Catalonia (TSJC) the order by which a Barcelona judge authorized the euthanasia that the patient’s family had contested. The prosecution does not address the underlying question of whether euthanasia was properly granted, but rather appeals the litigation judge’s refusal to consider that the father had the right to contest it.
This is therefore a technical debate about who can request euthanasia (and not the merits of the right to die with dignity), but it is vitally important. Ultra-Catholic entities such as Christian Lawyers represent family members who contest the last wishes of their loved ones, transforming a technical debate into an instrumentalization of procedures to try to get the courts to overturn the right to die with dignity.
In the appeal to which elDiario.es had access, the prosecutor emphasizes that she shares with the magistrate of Barcelona the conclusion according to which requesting euthanasia is an “eminently personal decision” which “presents a strong component of self-determination of the person “. The Barcelona patient is a man over 50 years old with chronic illnesses that cause a high degree of disability with no prospect of improvement.
What the prosecution is talking about is the judge’s refusal to consider the father of the man who requests euthanasia as a person with a legitimate interest in appealing the euthanasia. The judge considered that, in the concrete case, the simple family bond was not enough, since the relationship between father and son was currently almost non-existent.
European jurisprudence, recalled the judge, requires that, to call for euthanasia, the family member has a “real link” with the patient who wishes to die with dignity, which was not the case in this case. species. On the contrary, the prosecution considers that the father’s appeal must be accepted, considering that he has “a relationship, proximity and survival of bonds of solidarity” with his son.
The “restrictive interpretation” of the family bond carried out by the magistrate, in the words of the prosecutor, “would in practice transform the resolutions favorable to euthanasia into a sort of space of free law, since members of the family or friends relatives could not appeal nor in practice” the public prosecutor.
“There is no question of confronting or prioritizing the opinion of a family member regarding the free decision of the applicant regarding the exercise of the right to assistance in dying when all the legally established conditions are met. “, insists the prosecutor, who, unlike the judge, defends the fact of “recognizing access to jurisdiction to family members or close friends of the person concerned.”
Furthermore, the prosecutor believes that in this case there are almost “doubts” about the patient’s “capacity, understanding and willingness” to request euthanasia, which is one more element in favor of legitimate interest. of the father to appeal. “Doubts raised about the capacity and consent of the applicant must be dispelled by appropriate evidence,” the appeal adds.
Another case remains to be resolved, which concerns a request for euthanasia of a 23-year-old girl, appealed by her relatives, represented by the ultra-Catholic entity Christian Lawyers. This appeal is pending before another contentious court in Barcelona.
The Prosecutor’s Office requests that in this man’s case, authorized euthanasia be suspended again, a precautionary measure that it is plausible that the TSJC will accept until it resolves the appeals. Appeals against both decisions were presented in August. For now, it has been more than three months without knowing if they will be able to die with dignity.
