A constitutional crisis has broken out in the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg due to Grand-Duke Henri’s refusal to ratify the law that should legitimise euthanasia in the event of a conscientious problem. It is the first time a regent of the small State opposes to the will of Parliament. Last February, Luxembourg’s Parliament had voted on the law, under which terminally-ill people could end their life with the assistance of at least two doctors and a group of experts. During the months of its development, the local Catholic Church had conducted an active campaign against the law, asking to enhance palliative care for terminally-ill patients and inviting the Catholic politicians to follow the Christian doctrine when voting. A similar problem had occurred in Belgium in 1990, when King Baldwin refused to sign the abortion law; on that occasion to secure legal approval , the sovereign had been declared by Parliament temporarily incompetent to rule. Jean-Claude Juncker, Luxembourg’s Prime Minister (Christian Social Party), despite being against the law, thinks Parliament should have the last word; so he proposed that the Constitution be amended so that with the agreement of two thirds of Parliament the right of veto may no longer be exercised.
