The Necessity of a Court Approval in Civil Proceedings on the Withdrawal of Life-Supporting Treatment for Terminally Ill Patients

Abstract

The paper presents a comparative analysis of the positions of the courts in respect with the necessity of a court’s authorization to terminate life-support. Some courts hold that it is mandatory in any case, while the other reduce the role of the tribunals only to disputes arising from the decision to withdraw life-support.

Keywords

• withdrawal of treatment
• passive euthanasia
• family law
• judicial approval
• terminally ill patients