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Self-determined dying in Germany and what the German Constitutional Court has taught us about assisted suicide with mental disorders

Pia Dittke

Medical Law International2026https://doi.org/10.1177/09685332251393803article
ABDC C
Weight
0.50

What the paper says

In 2020, the German Constitutional Court (Bundesverfassungsgericht) issued one of the most autonomy-centred rulings on end-of-life law worldwide, establishing a broad ‘right to a self-determined death’ while declaring the former regulation of suicide assistance unconstitutional. This article provides an update on the current situation in German end-of-life law and explains why the right to a self-determined death developed by the Bundesverfassungsgericht serves as a core principle for western constitutional systems. The article pays particular attention to an issue that is highly topical in the current end-of-life debate in and outside Germany – assisted suicide and mental disorders – and outlines what can be learned from the Constitutional Court’s ruling about this particular issue.

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https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1177/09685332251393803

Or copy a formatted citation

@article{pia2026,
  title        = {{Self-determined dying in Germany and what the German Constitutional Court has taught us about assisted suicide with mental disorders}},
  author       = {Pia Dittke},
  journal      = {Medical Law International},
  year         = {2026},
  doi          = {https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1177/09685332251393803},
}

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Self-determined dying in Germany and what the German Constitutional Court has taught us about assisted suicide with mental disorders

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Evidence weight

0.50

Balanced mode · F 0.40 / M 0.15 / V 0.05 / R 0.40

F · citation impact0.50 × 0.4 = 0.20
M · momentum0.50 × 0.15 = 0.07
V · venue signal0.50 × 0.05 = 0.03
R · text relevance †0.50 × 0.4 = 0.20

† Text relevance is estimated at 0.50 on the detail page — for your query’s actual relevance score, open this paper from a search result.