The European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg issued two important sentences last week. The first concerns the case of Diane Pretty, British citizen who is suffering from an incurable neurodegenerative disease known as amiotrophic lateral sclerosis. A suit had been presented to the Court asking for recognition of Diane Pretty’s right to be helped by her own husband to commit suicide. Unanimously, the judges of the Court ruled that there do not exist articles of the European Convention of Human Rights that oblige a State that has adopted the Convention to authorize assisted suicide. The second sentence regards the case of Anatoliy Burdov, Russian citizen, who had filed a suit against his own country. Burdov, involved with the army at Chernobyl in the emergency operations after the explosion of the nuclear reactor, suffered serious health consequences following his prolonged exposure to radiation. In spite of the fact that the civil court and the Ministry of Finance in Moscow granted compensation to Burdov, the Office of Social Security has not paid the entire sum due to “lack of credit”, a justification challenged by Burdov. For the first time in its history the Court condemned the Russian State. ———————————————————————————————————– Sir Europa (English) N.ro assoluto : 30 N.ro relativo : 18 Data pubblicazione : 10/05/02
