La Corte Suprema indiana legalizza l’eutanasia passiva e fornisce le linee guida aggiornate per le advance directives sul fine vita

The Indian Supreme Court legalizes passive euthanasia and provides updated guidelines on advance directives on the end of life

Abstract

This article focuses on the discipline of euthanasia in India after the Supreme Court recognized the legality of passive euthanasia in the case Common Cause v. Union of India: a milestone in Indian jurisprudence and another example of the judicial activism of the Supreme Court. This achievement was reached by a Constitutional Bench, which related the issue to the breadth of the right to life and considered it inclusive of the right to live and die with dignity.

The article thus analyzes the reasoning of the Court in the case and the current discipline of the end-of life decisions in India after the recent order in 2023 of the same Court on advance directives.