413 KB68 KB201520262026Scott, Liam Williamletnik:19številka:2str. 419–444DOI:10.18690/mls.19.2.419-444.2026ISSN:2463-7955COBISSID_HOST:294815747URN:URN:NBN:SI:doc-5EE2IDDDenUniversity of Maribor PressMedicine, law & societybrainstem deathdeath by neurologic criteriadefinition of deathintensive carelegislationThe legal definition of death in the UK: an analysis and a proposal|The UK does not have a statutory definition of death. Since the 1980s, an emerging clinical concept of death, named ‘Death determined using Neurologic Criteria’ (DNC), has gradully been acknowledged by the UK courts. While several recent cases have contested this position, DNC is now regarded as the medical and legal definition of death. The absence of a statutory definition of death, coupled with the complex and counterintuitive nature of DNC, has provided sceptics ambiguity with which to challenge the medicolegal status quo. The common law approach to defining death appears increasingly unsatisfactory; there is now a strong argument to enact relevant legislation in the UK. This paper proposes legislation which would bring greater legal clarity, certainty and consistency to the determination of death, and would address many of the practical and conceptual problems that currently existV Združenem kraljestvu ni zakonske opredelitve smrti. Od leta 1980 britanska sodišča postopoma priznavajo nastajajoči klinični koncept smrti, imenovan »smrt, ugotovljena na podlagi nevroloških meril« (DNC). Čeprav je bilo to stališče v nekaterih nedavnih primerih izpodbijano, se DNC danes šteje za medicinsko in pravno opredelitev smrti. Odsotnost zakonske opredelitve smrti, skupaj z zapleteno in protislovno naravo DNC, je skeptikom ponudila dvoumnost, s katero lahko izpodbijajo medicinsko-pravni status quo. Pristop common law k opredelitvi smrti se zdi vse bolj nezadovoljiv. Tako obstaja močan argument za sprejetje ustrezne zakonodaje v Združenem kraljestvu. Članek predlaga zakonodajo, ki bi prinesla večjo pravno jasnost, gotovost in doslednost pri ugotavljanju smrti ter bi obravnavala številne praktične in konceptualne težave, ki trenutno obstajajoTEXTznanstveno časopisjejournalsSlovenian National E-content AggregatorNational and University Library of SloveniaUniverza v Mariboru, Pravna fakulteta