Director Jean-Luc Godard died on Tuesday at his home in Rolle, Switzerland, at the age of 91, after having resorted to assisted suicide. Patrick Jeanneret, the adviser to the Franco-Swiss family, said that the filmmaker was suffering from “multiple disabling pathologies (…) according to the terms of the medical report”.
“He was not sick, he was simply exhausted, declared a relative of the family to our colleagues from Release. So he had made the decision to end it. It was his decision and it was important for him to know it. »
There are different forms of assisted death in Switzerland, such as passive euthanasia and assisted suicide.
Assisted suicide is not specifically regulated but is permitted under certain conditions. In principle, anyone who, “prompted by a selfish motive”, assists in the suicide of someone – for example by providing him with a deadly substance – is punishable by a custodial sentence not exceeding five years or pecuniary penalty.
Medical ethics
However, organizations such as Exit provide assisted suicide within the law as long as “no selfish motive” can be attributed to them.
The practice of assisted suicide is framed by codes of medical ethics and is supported by organizations, mainly Exit, which accompanied nearly 1,400 people in death in 2021.
Assisted suicides have increased annually in recent years in Switzerland, from 187 cases per year in 2003 to 965 in 2015, according to the Federal Statistical Office. After a slight decrease in 2016, they have since started to rise again.