Abstract

In Gross v Switzerland, the European Court of Human Rights held by 4-3 majority that Switzerland had violated the right to decide when and how to die included in the right to respect for private and family life under Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights. To comply with the ruling, Switzerland must issue guidance detailing the circumstances (if any) under which physicians may lawfully prescribe lethal medication to competent individuals who have a voluntary and settled wish to die, yet whose suffering is not the product of a medical condition likely to result in death in the near future.