Dignified death: a new fundamental right in Peru?

Abstract

The landmark ruling in the ‘Ana Estrada’ case established for the first time the existence of a right to die with dignity in Peru. By virtue of this right, the criminal provision that prevented the plaintiff from accessing the medical procedure of euthanasia when she required it was declared inapplicable. The Supreme Court ratified the ruling upon consultation and held that its approval would imply the recognition of a new subjective right with effects that could transcend the specific case. Although this judicial declaration was significant, beyond its discursive effects, there was no attempt to provide the right a concrete normative structure.
Based on a critical analysis of these judicial decisions, grounded in the doctrine of unenumerated and emerging human rights under international law, as well as recent high courts rulings in comparative law, this work provides arguments to support the need to configurate a right to die with dignity —one that allows access to medical assistance in dying—as a new fundamental right.