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Spain's Supreme Court has ruled that parents have the legal right to challenge a decision granting euthanasia to an adult child, in a landmark judgment that has far-reaching implications for how the country's euthanasia law is applied in practice.

 

The ruling came from the Plenary of the Administrative Litigation Chamber, which agreed to recognise the legal standing of people with "a particularly close link" to someone who has applied for euthanasia to appeal that decision in court.

 

Crucially, the court was clear that this doesn't automatically mean a challenge will succeed. As the High Court of Justice of Catalonia put it, "recognising the legitimacy of these parents does not necessarily mean that the jurisdictional decision will uphold this challenge, but only recognises their possibility of requesting judicial review of whether the administration has acted in accordance with the law."

 

The case that brought this issue to the Supreme Court involves Francesc Augé, a 55-year-old man in Catalonia who has now been waiting 650 days to end his life because of a legal challenge brought by his 95-year-old father. The euthanasia had been approved by the Catalan Guarantee and Evaluation Commission following the proper process, and Mr Augé was found to be an adult with full mental capacity and no formal diagnosis of mental illness.

 

His father nonetheless appealed, arguing that his son was vulnerable due to mental health problems and was not in a position to make the decision freely.

 

The case highlights a tension that is likely to come up more and more as euthanasia requests increase across Spain. Between 2021 and 2024, some 824 requests were made in Catalonia alone, of which 445 were approved. The Catalan government had argued that Spain's Organic Law Regulating Euthanasia makes no provision for third parties to appeal such decisions, leaving that responsibility to the medical professionals and the Guarantee and Evaluation Commission involved in each case.

 

The Supreme Court disagreed and its ruling now sets a precedent for the whole country.

 

The case also comes shortly after Noelia, a 25-year-old woman with paraplegia, finally received euthanasia in Barcelona in March after a two-year wait, during which her father's opposition, represented by Christian Lawyers, had to be heard by five separate judicial instances before she could proceed.

 

The Public Prosecutor's Office backed the right of close relatives to intervene, but stressed that the bar should be set high. A biological or family relationship alone "is insufficient in itself," the Prosecutor's Office stated, adding that there must also be "an intense emotional bond present at the time of carrying out the action" and that any such right to intervene must be interpreted restrictively, applying only to those in "the strictest family sphere" of the person making the request.

 

 

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