Veshi Denard, Neitzke Gerald
Eur J Health Law. 2015 Sep;22(4):321-45. doi: 10.1163/15718093-12341368.
We have studied national laws on advance directives in various Western European countries: Romance-speaking countries (Italy, France, Portugal, and Spain), English-speaking countries (Ireland and the United Kingdom), and German-speaking countries (Austria, Germany, and Switzerland). We distinguish two potentially complementary types of advance medical declaration: the 'living will' and the nomination of a legal proxy. After examining the similarities and differences between countries, we analyse in detail the legislation of four countries (Spain, France, England, and Germany), since the other countries in this survey have similar legal principles and/or a similar political approach. In conclusion, we note that in all the countries examined, advance directives have been seen as an instrument to enable the patient's right to self-determination. Notwithstanding, in Romance-speaking countries, the involvement of physicians in the end-of-life process and risks arising from the execution of advance directives were also considered.
罗曼语系国家（意大利、法国、葡萄牙和西班牙）、英语国家（爱尔兰和英国）以及德语国家（奥地利、德国和瑞士）。我们区分了两种可能互补的预立医疗声明类型：“生前遗嘱”和指定法定代理人。在考察各国之间的异同之后，我们详细分析了四个国家（西班牙、法国、英国和德国）的立法情况，因为本次调查中的其他国家具有相似的法律原则和/或相似的政治立场。总之，我们注意到，在所有被考察的国家中，预立医疗指示都被视为实现患者自决权的一种手段。尽管如此，在罗曼语系国家，也考虑到了医生在临终过程中的参与以及执行预立医疗指示所产生的风险。
