Right to Die: A New Human Right or An Implication from Right to Liberty and Personal Security – The case of Vietnam

Abstract

The concept of the right to die, also referred to as the right to die with dignity, has long been a subject of interest among academics and human rights experts. Frequently, the right to die is considered in relation to the right to life, which is the most fundamental human right. However, due to the fact that one of the distinctive features of human rights is interdependence and interrelation, the right to die also intersects with other fundamental rights, notably the right to liberty and personal security. This article aims to assess the necessity of recognizing right to die as a new independent human right based on an examination of the intrinsic relationship between the right to die and the right to liberty and personal security. Accordingly, in the context of many changes in current socio-economic conditions, the demand for the right to die has emerged as a progressive approach to ensuring the enjoyment of basic human rights. Meanwhile, the right to liberty and personal security, along with the right to life, are the first substantive rights. Liberty and personal security are valuable not only for their own sake, but also because the deprivation of liberty and personal security has historically been the primary means of impairing the enjoyment of other rights. This article uses different approaches, like statutory, case, and conceptual approaches, as well as different research methods, like the historic method, the analytical/analytical-synthetic method, the comparative method and the polemic-critical method, to come to the conclusion that the right to die is not a separate human right in the present situation. However, it is reaffirmed that the right to die is an important human right, and its recognition should be regulated.