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  3. November 2024

November 2024

Between Portugal and Brazil: Dignified Death, Legislative Evolution and Future Perspectives

1Ana Elisabete Ferreira, 2Thiago Melim Braga
1,2Assistant Professor at the Miguel Torga Higher Institute and Collaborating Researcher at the Legal Institute of the Faculty of Law of the University of Coimbra, Portugal.
DOI : https://doi.org/10.58806/ijirme.2024.v3i11n01

Abstract

The purpose of this work is to verify how dignified death can be analyzed in the constitutional reality of Portugal and Brazil, aiming to delimit - contextually - each of the realities. In short, the question, duly problematized, is how the relationship between the two countries can contribute to the debate and development of the themes of euthanasia, orthothanasia and assisted suicide, as well as the decriminalization of the conduct typified in the legislation. To achieve this, the topic is introduced by analyzing dignified life and autonomy, seeking to understand whether for dignity in and of the "individual", we speak of technical-mechanical life or dignified life. It also aims to conceptualize what is meant by dignified death and its practices. The study also aims to verify the Portuguese legislative reality and, on the other hand, how criminalization of criminal types related to life and death occurs in Brazilian society, using legislative (in)evolution, identifying one of the main problems, which is the sacralization of life in contrast to secularity. It is therefore a descriptive and exploratory study of a bibliographical and documentary nature. The research provides and clarifies, through the bibliographic data obtained, the reality of the taboo when dealing with the subject of death, especially death considered and contextualized as dignified. It concludes that there is no absolute right, not even one dedicated to life, and that it is necessary to confront the issues related to dignified death - euthanasia, assisted suicide and orthothanasia - and that each of these issues should be analyzed based on a careful verification of elements or requirements, as well as through a dichotomy between different realities, as is the case in Portugal and Brazil, in order to promote debate and overcome issues such as the slippery slope.

Keywords:

Human Dignity; Fundamental Rights; Dignified Death; Portugal; Brazil.

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