The Practice of Euthanasia on the Outside of the Law: the Prohibition by the Law and the Judicial Lottery Promoted by the Jury

Abstract

The paper discusses euthanasia in Brazil through the case of Geraldo Rodrigues de Oliveira. There is a serious conflict between social values and what the norm predicts in relation to euthanasia. While the Brazilian law prohibits euthanasia practice, in the case under review, it was observed that juries understand that practice can be motivated and exempt from criminal liability. This apparent conflict between juries and the law creates a pendulum repression of euthanasia, since the combinatorial formation of the members of the jury may result into the veredict of guiltiness or not-guiltiness of the defendant. From this case, a reanalysis of euthanasia is proposed, especially to recognize it as a right, so that euthanasia is regulated and not an object of precarious construction that results into casuistic decisions.