Catalan Justice Halts New Euthanasia Request Following Father's Appeal

The Catalonia High Court of Justice ruled on Thursday that the relatives of a person whose euthanasia has already been approved can file a legal appeal to try to halt it. According to the High Court, it is 'legitimate' and, depending on the context, even a legal obligation.

The case concerns a 54-year-old man from Barcelona. After receiving official approval from the Catalan administration for a dignified death, his father challenged the decision in a contentious court. He argued that his son has mental health issues and therefore 'would not be in a position to make a decision' such as being allowed to die. The contentious administrative court in Barcelona rejected the father's appeal and gave the green light to the euthanasia requested by the patient. The father, however, appealed the case to the TSJC.

The justice nevertheless affirmed that the patient has full faculties to make the decision and that only he can make it, as he is not a minor, as required by law. This is the same as stated in the judgment of the case of Noelia, a 24-year-old with paraplegia and also with an approved euthanasia request, whose father also attempted to halt it judicially. The justice sided with her after the trial, although the case is pending appeal of the ruling before the TSJC.

The Catalan High Court has now endorsed that relatives can appeal an approved euthanasia request and has ordered that the case be resolved in a trial, which will be the second of its kind in Spain. 'Recognizing the legitimacy' of the parents of a person who requests to end their life to judicially challenge the resolution that agrees to assist them does not mean, according to the TSJC, that the court's decision will be favorable to those who appeal the euthanasia. The judicial action, notes the Catalan High Court, recognizes their ability to 'promote control' over whether the administration has decided in accordance with the law its approval of dignified death. It is, it concludes, the 'correct verification' of whether the patient has the capacity, free will, and awareness to decide on the administration of euthanasia.

The patient's father appealed to the justice system the decision of his son to have euthanasia applied, which had already been authorized by the body responsible for it, the Catalonia guarantee and evaluation commission.

The father argued that his son has mental health problems and therefore 'would not be in a position to make a decision' such as being allowed to die. An argument that the justice rejected.

The 54-year-old patient has suffered strokes and heart attacks in recent years. He requested euthanasia and that no one in his family be aware of his intention to end his life. He lives alone, according to the court order, and father and son do not have a good relationship. He is the father of a minor child, with whom he has never had any relationship.

The guarantees committee (the Generalitat body with doctors and jurists that evaluates euthanasia requests) gave the go-ahead in July 2024. He suffered three strokes and two heart attacks between 2020 and 2022, which affected his mobility and speech. He asked his doctor to start the process for assisted death. He fears suffering and having more disability than he currently has. After receiving official approval, his father challenged the decision in a contentious court.

In the case of Noelia, 24, she suffers from paraplegia, caused by a suicide attempt, in 2022. She has severe permanent and irreversible sequelae and in April 2024 requested assisted death. It is a 'lumbar spinal cord injury that is incurable and not rehabilitable, causing difficult-to-manage neuropathic pain, double incontinence, with dependency to a greater or lesser extent on daily life activities,' according to the report of the responsible doctor, included in the judgment.

The ruling, from last month, 'dismissed' the appeal filed by the father against the resolution of the Catalonia guarantee and evaluation commission, the Generalitat body authorized to approve requests for dignified death, which issued a favorable report for the application of euthanasia.

According to the judgment, the patient 'maintains the capacity to request assistance to die.' And it recalled that the judgments that have granted legitimacy to a third party due to family ties referred to 'cases where the holder of the fundamental right invoked was a minor or an incapacitated person.' 'In the present case, the beneficiary of the provision is an adult, and her father has not only not initiated any incapacitation procedure, but has also not provided any evidence of the alleged incapacity, such as a medical report,' it concluded.