On The Decriminalization Of Euthanasia

With the worldwide legal and cultural exchange and the widespread phenomenon of euthanasia,Chinese scholars gradually pay attention to the problem of euthanasia.Euthanasia involves many fields such as law,morality,medicine and ethics,which are complicated by many fields.Scholars have different opinions on the nature and value orientation of euthanasia,which leads to different opinions on whether euthanasia should be decriminalized or even legalized.In our country,the legislation of euthanasia has no clear corresponding provisions.In the judicial practice,because of the influence of the traditional idea of severe punishment and the confusion of intentional killing in the guise of euthanasia,it is considered that euthanasia has social harmfulness,resulting in a large number of euthanasia cases as crimes.The existence of euthanasia has certain social value.It can save some patients who are unfortunately trapped in life difficulties from the bad environment and save social medical resources,directly realize the interests of patients and indirectly realize the social interests.It is beneficial to the society without serious harm and has legitimacy and rationality.In order to correct the judicial practice of euthanasia bias and the actor get rid of responsibility,this paper mainly analyzes the nature of euthanasia behavior from the perspective of criminal law theory,and holds that the decriminalization of euthanasia is legitimate and reasonable,which should be excluded from the criminal circle.The paper is divided into four parts for specific discussion.Chapter one: overview of euthanasia.The connotation of euthanasia is relatively rich.Through the elaboration of the concept and theoretical classification of euthanasia,it is clear that euthanasia in this paper does not refer to all euthanasia in general,but has a certain range,so as to distinguish philosophical significance and medical concepts.The elaboration of value shows that euthanasia has certain social value.Chapter two: the basis of decriminalization of euthanasia.This paper focuses on three aspects: ethical basis,legal basis and theoretical basis of criminal law.Ethical basis is discussed from the perspective of humanity,safeguarding human dignity,seeking benefits and avoiding disadvantages;legal basis is discussed from the perspective of legal paternalism andthe right to life;criminal theoretical basis is discussed from the following aspects: the principle of legality,the nature of crime,the cause of illegal obstruction and the possibility of expectation,It holds that the decriminalization of euthanasia is reasonable and legitimate.Chapter three: the necessity and feasibility of decriminalization of euthanasia.This paper discusses the necessity of decriminalization from the two aspects of the theory of penalty purpose and the modesty of criminal law;the dissemination of decriminalization thoughts abroad provides the theoretical basis for it,the transformation of people's view of life and death provides the ideological basis for it,the improvement of national quality provides the social basis for it,and the decriminalization of euthanasia is feasible.Chapter four: the way of decriminalization of euthanasia.Based on the classification of decriminalization in decriminalization report,the decriminalization approaches of euthanasia can be divided into judicial decriminalization and legal decriminalization.Although the legislative conditions are not mature at this stage,the author believes that with the continuous improvement of social economy and the construction of the rule of law,the conditions for euthanasia are still in the near future,and puts forward the idea of euthanasia legislation in China in the future.