Judges to decide case by case on assisted suicide- top court

(ANSA) - ROME, JUL 18 - Judges will need to evaluate each judicial case regarding medically assisted suicide in the absence of legislation regulating the matter, Italy's Constitutional Court ruled on Thursday.
    The court said a judge will need to independently evaluate "on the basis of the principles already outlined in a sentence issued in 2019 whether a person can be indicted in relation to the practice of assisted suicide".
    The requirements outlined in the 2019 sentence included the presence of an irreversible pathology and unbearable physical or psychological suffering for the patient, among others.
    The top court noted that, in the absence of a law in Italy regulating the matter, the requirements to access assisted suicide remain those established by sentence n.242 of 2019 and must be ascertained by the national healthcare service.
    The court moreover expressed the "strong hope that the legislator and the national healthcare service will ensure the concrete and punctual implementation of the principles set by its previous sentence, notwithstanding the possibility for the legislator of dictating a different set of rules, in the respect of the principles cited today".
    The Constitutional Court once again urged to "guarantee to all patients the effective possibility of accessing appropriate palliative care to control their suffering". (ANSA).