Death with dignity : legal and ethical aspects of euthanasia

There is an active debate as to whether euthanasia is socially acceptable as a mechanism for achieving dignity in dying for many terminally ill and incurable people. The debate reveals a tension between the criminal law and social and medical ethics, and questions whether the criminal law of homicide is an appropriate mechanism to adjudicate the humanitarian issues raised by euthanasia. Euthanasia may provide death with dignity in some circumstances but not at the same time as the law requires the undignified criminalisation of the practitioner. Legal reform permitting some forms of euthanasia may offer a solution.