CRIMINAL LAW POLICY ON EUTHANASIA FROM THE PERSPECTIVE OF PANCASILA

Abstract

Euthanasia is a term taken from Latin, namely “eu” meaning death and “thantos” meaning good; literally, euthanasia can be interpreted as accelerating death in a good way. In general, in the medical world, there are two types of euthanasia, namely: 1) Active euthanasia, which is a doctor's action of administering drugs to a patient to accelerate their death, and 2) Passive euthanasia, which is a doctor's action of not providing assistance or stopping treatment for the patient. In the Indonesian Criminal Code (KUHP), the articles closest to euthanasia actions are found in Articles 344, 345, and 304. Meanwhile, in medical ethics, Article 11 requires doctors to protect the lives of human beings. This research aims to examine and understand the basic idea behind the policy of criminalizing euthanasia and to understand how the criminal law policy ius constituendum on euthanasia is shaped based on the perspective of Pancasila in Indonesia. The type of legal research used is normative legal research, with the approach methods including: the Statute Approach and the Conceptual Approach. The results of the study are: 1) The basic idea of the criminalization policy on euthanasia in Indonesia is based on several aspects, namely Pancasila, law, ethics, religion, and Indonesian social and cultural values. The foundation of Pancasila, as life and death are absolute rights of God, is based on the principle of “Belief in the One and Only God,” and then Indonesia, as a country with the Pancasila ideology, must uphold Human Rights (HAM) as contained in the second principle, “Just and Civilized Humanity.” Then, there are concerns about the misuse of power by doctors in carrying out euthanasia and abuse by patients or their families due to economic and social pressures. 2) The legalization of euthanasia in Indonesia is a complex issue, especially regarding Pancasila as the way of life of the Indonesian people. However, if examined in depth and carefully, especially concerning humanitarian and justice aspects, there is still an opportunity for legalization, especially in the medical field. As stated in Minister of Health Regulation No. 37 of 2014 concerning the Determination of Death and Utilization of Organ Donors and Law No. 17 of 2023 concerning Health.