European court rules in favor of France in life support case

The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) has ruled on Friday in favor of France in a landmark life support case, Lambert and Others v. France, which will establish a precedent in Europe for "end of life" decisions.

The European Court ruled by 12 votes to 5 that there would be no violation of Article 2 of the European Convention of Human rights, which protects the right to life, in the implementation of a previous judgement by the Conseil d'Etat, the highest administrative jurisdiction in France, which had rendered the decision to allow for the removal of life support for French citizen Vincent Lambert.

The court found that the so-called "Leonetti Law" of 2005, upon which the Conseil d'Etat based its judgement, "constituted a legal framework which was sufficiently clear to regulate with precision the decisions taken by doctors in situations such as that in the present case."

The law specifically allows the withdrawal of procedures that are "unreasonably obstinate," such as maintaining a patient's life despite an impossible prognosis.

As a result, the other 46 member states of the Council of Europe who have signed the European Convention and are under the ECHR's jurisdiction will be looking at the judgement and their own legal frameworks related to end of life decisions, especially in life support cases that reach the highest level of domestic courts.

In this case, Lambert, a tetraplegic who has been in a state of complete dependence since a road accident on Sep. 29, 2008, has been the subject of controversy after his parents objected to a doctor's decision, made with the agreement of Lambert's wife, to end a feeding and rehydration program.

ECHR documents explain that Dr. Kariger, the doctor in charge of Lambert, took the decision to remove life support in early 2013, after caretakers noticed increasing resistance to day-to-day care from the patient.

The ECHR met for a Grand Chamber hearing of 17 judges on Jan. 8 of this year in order to study the case before rendering their judgement on Friday.

The affair may not be entirely finished for Lambert, however, as Dr. Kariger, who originally issued the decision to end life support programs, is no longer in his post, and is legally the only person who can execute the medical order.

In the case that a new medical order is necessary to end Lambert's life support, Lambert's parents may use the opportunity object again in French courts. There is reason to believe, however, that in such a case, the EHCR judgement will be used as a precedent to uphold the medical decision. Enditem