Is euthanasia legal in the United Kingdom?
Illegal
Active euthanasia is illegal in the UK, though passive euthanasia and physician-assisted suicide are not explicitly legal.
The United Kingdom is one of 17 countries classified “Illegal” for euthanasia — 43% of the 40 with data. (Also searched as assisted dying.)
Source
- Taken from
- Wikipedia: Legality of euthanasia
- Last checked
- 15 September 2026
- How it was classified
- Classified by a language model from the source text, then checked against hand-verified reference countries.
Nearby countries
- Ireland
- Illegal Active euthanasia is illegal in Ireland, though passive euthanasia is allowed under specific circumstances.
- Netherlands
- Euthanasia legal Euthanasia is legal in the Netherlands, including physician-assisted suicide.
- Belgium
- Euthanasia legal Belgium legalized euthanasia in 2002, including for terminally ill children under strict conditions.
- Luxembourg
- Euthanasia legal Euthanasia is legal in Luxembourg for terminally ill patients with approval from doctors and experts.
- France
- Illegal Euthanasia is illegal in France, though a bill was passed in 2016 to allow sedation of terminal patients until death.
- Germany
- Assisted dying only Assisted suicide is illegal in Germany, but the 2020 ruling legalized passive euthanasia under certain conditions.
Other laws in United Kingdom
- Abortion
- Legal on request
- Suicide Laws
- Not a crime
- FGM Laws
- Specifically banned
- Surrogacy
- Altruistic only
- Organ Donor Consent
- Opt-out (presumed consent)
Every law in the United Kingdom → · Where is euthanasia legal? →
A visual reference compiled from Wikipedia’s law-by-country articles, not legal advice. Laws change and summaries simplify — check a primary source before relying on anything here.