On December 20, 2024, the Constitutional Court in Vienna published its decision to amend the Austrian Dying Directive Act in key points and thereby make access to euthanasia easier. The judges are thus meeting the central demands of the Austrian Society for a Humane End of Life (ÖGHL).
“We are very pleased with the VfGH’s decision,” says ÖGHL Managing Director Dr. Christina Kaneider. “Our main concerns were taken into account accordingly, so the way is open for meaningful association work for the benefit of those affected. This now also enables professional support. It will be easier to get information and it will be easier to renew an existing dying order.”
Contrary to what current media reports suggest, assisted suicide is still permitted in Austria. The Austrian Dying Directive Act, which has been in force since January 1, 2022, allows, under certain conditions, people to be supported in dying independently. Even then, the offense of “participation in suicide” (Section 78 old StGB) was no longer applicable and euthanasia was decriminalized. Active euthanasia (killing on request) remains prohibited.
In practice, however, the hurdles of the law created at the time turned out to be so high that many of those affected were unable to overcome them. The strict ban on advertising – actually a ban on information – massively limited the possibilities for support, for example from professional clubs like the ÖGHL. In order to correct these and other points of the law, lawyer Dr. Wolfram Proksch submitted a second individual application to the Constitutional Court in June 2023 on behalf of the ÖGHL and other individuals with the support of Dignitas. A hearing took place on September 19, 2024, during which all sides were heard in detail. “We have convincingly argued that several provisions of the Dying Directive Act are unconstitutional. Fortunately, the constitutional judges followed our argument, at least in part,” said Wolfram Proksch.
After intensive deliberations, the Constitutional Court has now decided: The strict ban on advertising and the limitation of the validity of the death decree to one year are unconstitutional and will therefore be repealed. The Constitutional Court did not follow us in our application to repeal Section 77 of the Criminal Code (killing on demand).
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