A Discussion On The Legalization Of Euthanasia And Preliminary Thoughts On The Euthanasia Legislation In China Compared With The Legal Cognition Of Euthanasia In Japan

Euthanasia is not a new topic. According to historical documents, thoughts about it could be traced back to ancient times. The debate on euthanasia grew considerably intense in the1980s due to the appearance of euthanasia cases in real life. It is human nature to live and no one would easily abandon his or her life. However, it is rather problematic to judge whether a man’s life is still valuable enough to maintain and has the right to abandon it when he is suffering from the pain caused by some lethal disease that is incurable under current medical conditions. The legalization of euthanasia has become much talked about, concerning legal, ethical as well as medical factors. The legal attitude toward euthanasia varies among different countries; some regard it as a crime while some has already made it legal. Nevertheless, legalization of euthanasia is the mainstream trend in the world today.There were recorded thoughts on euthanasia in ancient China. Since the1980s, more and more scholars have begun to pay attention to and carry out research on this issue. Nearly in every National People’s Congress there are representatives proposing its legislation, though without success yet, still having promoted the legalization of euthanasia. The author of this essay chooses this subject in order to promote the euthanasia legislation by analyzing the process of it in foreign countries.Being not a new topic, euthanasia is still worth studying. By doing so, it could enrich the meaning of the right to life and the theories on human rights, develop the science of criminal law, promote the reform on the theory of constitution of crime, clear the path for euthanasia legislation and provide theoretical guidance to judiciary practice.In this essay, the author first introduces the history of cognition of euthanasia and its definition and its classification, from which it could be seen that there are different classifying standards in different countries and even within one country. Then it comes to the legislative process of euthanasia in the Netherlands and Belgium, which are the only two countries legally allow euthanasia in order to learn their experience and find out the factors inhibiting euthanasia legislation in China. The second chapter is mainly focused on the academic debates and real cases on euthanasia in Japan, which provides China with many legal theories and is easier to study thanks to the author’s mastering of Japanese. In spite of formally setting laws on euthanasia, a case law on it has come into being in Japan, which could be learnt in China as a transition to statute law. In the third chapter, the definition and classification of euthanasia and the legal debates among scholars are discussed, as well as elaborating the methods and attitudes to deal with euthanasia cases in court on the basis of criminal law by referring to certain cases. The reasons for legalizing euthanasia are discussed from philosophical, medical and legal aspects to offer theoretical support in the forth chapter, along with an analysis of the necessity and inhibiting factors of euthanasia legislation in China. The author put forward his ideas and suggestions on euthanasia legislation as well as the principles of it in the fifth chapter, completed by a detailed introduction of the subject, method, supervision and responsibility of carrying out euthanasia. Facing many problems for now, the prospect of euthanasia legislation in China is rather optimistic.