Traditional and New Challenges in the Right to Life
JUDr. Mgr. Jakub Valc, Ph.D.
Faculty of Law, Masaryk university; Regional court in Brno

Structure of the presentation
uPhilosophical basis of the right to life
uInstitutional guarantees of the right to life at the international level
uTraditional topics of the right to life
uNew challenges in the right to life

Philosophical basis of the right to life
uNatural law theory of human rights by Thomas Aquinas:
§Human life as a gift from God (supernatural authority)
§More types of laws hierarchy
u Eternal law Divine law Natural law     Human law
uRational concept of human rights  (17th century)
§The influence of the Enlightenment and humanism
§Man as an intellectual and autonomous being
§The right to life and its protection as a legitimate precondition for the establishment of the
state
u Social contract  (theory) What does it mean? T. Hobbes and Johne Locke
u Reflection of that ideas in the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen (1789)
u  I. Kant      Human dignity    inadmissibility of instrumentalisation

Institutional guarantees of the right to life at the international level
uWorld War II and Nazi ideology as an impulse  for the creation of an international system of human
rights protection
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uEstablishment of the United Nations, the Council of Europe (ECHR) and other international
organizations
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uAdoption of a number of legal documents - embedding the natural and universal character of human
rights
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u      Enshrining the right to life and other fundamental rights at the national (constitutional)
level
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Institutional guarantees of the right to life at the international level
uArticle 3 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights
u„Everyone has the right to life, liberty and security of person.“
uInternational Covenant on Civil and Political Rights
u„Every human being has the inherent right to life. This right shall be protected by law. No one
shall be arbitrarily deprived of his life.“
uArticle 2(1) European Convention on Human Rights
u„Everyone’s right to life shall be protected by law. […]“
u Why the right to life is considered the most important human right?
u Is the right to life an absolute right? Why?

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uWhat can be considered traditional topics related to the right to life?

Traditional topics of the right to life
u War (genocide)
u Death penalty
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u Abortion
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u Euthanasia

Death penalty
uCritique of the death penalty in the Enlightenment
uStrong tendency to abolish the death penalty after World War II
uAt the international level, the death penalty was still considered a possible exception to the
right to life
u    Serious crimes only + emphasis on fair trial + exclusion of certain groups of people
u    Different approaches      USA X EUROPE US Supreme Court/ECHR (Article 3 ECHR)
uArticle 2(1) European Convention on Human Rights
u„Everyone’s right to life shall be protected by law. No one shall be deprived of his life
intentionally save in the execution of a sentence of a court following his conviction of a crime
for which this penalty is provided by law.“
uX Protocol No. 6, 1983 (only death penalty in time of war remained)
u   Protocol No. 13, 2002 (abolition of the death penalty in all circumstances)

Abortion
uInfluenced by social development, including religion and the position of the church
uLack of uniform legislation at European and international level
uX Article 16(1) e) Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination Against Women:
u„States Parties shall take all appropriate measures to eliminate discrimination against women in
all matters relating to marriage and family relations and in particular shall ensure, on a basis of
equality of men and women: The same rights to decide freely and responsibly on the number and
spacing of their children and to have access to the information, education and means to enable them
to exercise these rights.“
u Does the right to abortion exist? ECHR   Protection through other rights…Which one?
u      „Margin of appreciation“    different approaches     liberal or restrictive      Examples?
u Conflict of different interests and rights of different persons Specifically?
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uQuestion related to the determination of the status of unborn child:
ubiological aspect      reflection of human biological development (stages of development)
umoral/philosophical aspect        human being = human person?   Animalism vs. Functionalism
ulegal aspect    protection of unborn life as a public interest or a fundamental right     ECHR?
uCASE OF VO v. FRANCE (Application no. 53924/00):
u„At European level, the Court observes that there is no consensus on the nature and status of the
embryo and/or foetus (see paragraphs 39-40 above), although they are beginning to receive some
protection in the light of scientific progress and the potential consequences of research into
genetic engineering, medically assisted procreation or embryo experimentation. At best, it may be
regarded as common ground between States that the embryo/foetus belongs to the human race. The
potentiality of that being and its capacity to become a person – enjoying protection under the
civil law, moreover, in many States, such as France, in the context of inheritance and gifts, and
also in the United Kingdom (see paragraph 72 above) – require protection in the name of human
dignity, without making it a “person” with the “right to life” for the purposes of Article 2. The
Oviedo Convention on Human Rights and Biomedicine, indeed, is careful not to give a definition of
the term “everyone”, and its explanatory report indicates that, in the absence of a unanimous
agreement on the definition, the member States decided to allow domestic law to provide
clarification for the purposes of the application of that Convention (see paragraph 36 above).“

Euthanasia
uAccording to the WHO, euthanasia is:
u„A deliberate act undertaken by one person with the intention of either painlessly putting to
death or failing to prevent death from natural causes in cases of terminal illness or irreversible
coma of another person.“
uEuthanasia X Assisted suicide X Futile and useless treatment What's the difference?
uPhilosophical approaches:
-human life as a fundamental (most important) value - quality of life is not the determining factor
-emphasis on personal life and its quality - distinguishing between good and bad death (life)
uLegal issues:
-Do we have not only the right to life, but also the right to die?
-Does the state have an obligation to guarantee the performance of euthanasia?
-ECHR (No. 2346/02, No. 31322/07, No. 46043/14)      THE SITUATION IN EUROPE

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uWhat are the new challenges in the right to life?

New challenges in the right to life
uLink to the development of biomedicine and its vague regulation
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u Embryo handling – ART (selection and research use)
u Manipulation of the human genome (enhancement)
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u The question of respect for human dignity
uThreat to human nature and the autonomy of the individual

New challenges in the right to life
uThe importance of biomedicine for the development of ART (1978 - the first „test tube baby“)
uaddressing the problem of infertility and low fertility
uX creating new forms of conflict between human rights and public interests
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u  Right to private and family life – Art. 8 ECHR (link to reproductive life - extensive
interpretation of the ECHR)
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u        Right vs. right            OR                     Right vs. public interest
u (Evans vs. UK - Complaint No. 6339/05)   (Dickson vs. UK - Complaint No. 44362/04)

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uThank you for your attention.