Zabójstwo eutanatyczne w polskim i austriackim prawie karnym – rozważania komparatystyczne
Authentic homicide in Polish and Austrian criminal law – a comparative study

Summary/Abstract: Growing life expectancy, rising cancer incidence rates and huge progress in medical science lead to the increasing number of terminally ill patients. This makes an important contribution to the debate about euthanasia and the criminal law response to it. The legislator faces the necessity to create a regulation which, on the one hand, will protect human life as the highest good protected by the law, and on the other will enable the suffering to hasten their death in a peaceful and dignified manner. The form of the regulation of assisted suicide by the criminal law system can vary. The subject of this paper is a comparative consideration of ethnic homicide in Polish and Austrian criminal law. This study aims to identify similarities and differences between regulations. The research includes analysis of the statutory features of a basic type of this crime contained in Polish and Austrian legal provisions with particular focus on the subject, subjective side of an offence, object and objective side of an offence. Reference is also made to the criminal sanctions and the statistical data. The discussion is concluded with a comparison of Polish and Austrian provisions and an indication of the similarities and differences between regulations. The main conclusion of this paper is that regulations of ethnic homicide in Polish and Austrian law show common and different features and that the number of criminal proceedings concerning ethnic homicide in both countries is marginal, which may raise questions relating to their adaptation to the present day. The analysis is based on views of legal dogmatics and judicial practice. The paper was written based on Polish and foreign source materials.

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