Watson.ch (translated)
The first use of a suicide capsule last year reignited the debate on assisted suicide in Switzerland. Unlike the responsible Council of States committee, however, the Federal Council rejects new framework regulations for assisted suicide.
It takes the view that the legal framework is already sufficiently clear and that there is no need for further legislative action, writes the cantonal government in its statement published on Wednesday in response to a motion by the Legal Affairs Committee of the Council of States (RK-S). “The admissibility of further regulations in the sense of a framework law would first have to be examined in view of the limited legislative powers of the federal government.”
If the motion is accepted in the small chamber, the Federal Council reserves the right to submit an amendment in the second chamber. According to this, the federal government should first be commissioned to analyse the admissibility of the requested regulatory points in a report before a mandate for a legislative project is issued.
Competence of the cantons
The Federal Council further states that the cantons are fundamentally responsible for the general regulation of assisted suicide organisations and their activities, as well as for the regulation of assisted suicide in healthcare systems and hospitals. The cantons of Geneva, Vaud, Neuchâtel and Valais have already enacted laws that specifically regulate access to assisted suicide in public institutions.
According to the Federal Council, in the canton of Zurich, public retirement and nursing homes, but not hospitals, psychiatric institutions or prisons, are obliged to tolerate assisted suicide. Other cantons have deliberately refrained from introducing their own regulations.
After the use of the suicide capsule in the summer of 2024, ethicists once again called for stricter regulation and supervision. As early as 2005 and 2006, the National Ethics Commission in the Field of Human Medicine (NEK) had called for detailed legal regulations to be created for assisted suicide organisations. Among other things, these should include a duty to supervise the organisations.
Assisted suicide is currently only a criminal offence in Switzerland if motivated by selfish reasons. According to experts, it has been on the rise for several years. However, it accounts for less than two per cent of all deaths. Other forms of euthanasia, such as the withdrawal or discontinuation of life-sustaining measures, are practised much more frequently.
