Suicide and assisted suicide from a legal and ethical perspective

In 2020, the Federal Constitutional Court declared the ban on assisted suicide unconstitutional and invalid. The court derived a right to self-determined dying from the general right of personality. This right also includes the freedom to take one's own life and to seek help from third parties for this purpose and to make use of help if it is offered. In the meantime, there are several proposals for regulations and draft laws that pursue different concepts of a possible future regulation of assisted suicide. However, from the perspective of criminal law, the search for a new regulation should always be preceded by the question of the necessity of a new regulation. A new regulation must not be limited to certain groups of persons, such as persons with incurable, terminal illnesses, because otherwise the suicide motive would be assessed. This brings with it the particular challenge of finding a regulation that covers the different problem and need situations without assessing the suicide motive and also takes into account that the autonomy of the individual can be endangered in different ways. The article takes its starting point in the right to suicide, sheds light on different concepts, and discusses their advantages and disadvantages without explicitly highlighting individual legislative proposals. This is intended to enrich the further debate with individual aspects. At the same time, it advocates legislative restraint.