LA COUR SUPREME FACE A LA VIE, FACE A LA MORT: DE VALEURS ET DE DROITS

Abstract

As a result of the adoption of the Quebec and Canadian charters, the Supreme Court has been attributed the task of delineating our fundamental values . With regard to life,the fundamental issue relates to the unborn. Whether in the context of a planned termination of pregnancy or gestation leading to birth, legal recognition is attained and the rights of the child supercede those of its parents. According to the writer, the weaknesses inherent in the legal reasoning of the Court when confronted by this paradox result from its promotion of certain societal choices. As with life,so is it with death. Destined to protect the integrity of the person, an adult's autonomy undergoes limitations at the threshold of the unacceptable, that is to say regarding one's right to choose death. Lastly, as the foundation of all rights, the notion of human dignity is consecrated by the Court in a most praiseworthy decision.