Uvođenje anticipiranih naredbi pacijenata u srpsko pravo: prednosti i ograničenja ovog instituta

Abstract

The Republic of Serbia falls among few European countries, the members of European Council, which have not regulated the institute of patients' advance directives. For the purpose of providing an answer why this institute should be introduced, the author in the first part of the paper reviews its background and goal and then presents its advantages. She indicates that this institute broadens personal autonomy; it additionally supports the autonomous decision-making of patients while its existance relieves the relationship between doctors and patients, as well as the relationship between patients and their family members. In the second part of the paper, reviewing the current provisions of European legislations which regulate this matter and their application in practice, the author underlines the limitations of this institute which she qualifies as general (those which are also inherent to the informed consent, as a similar institute) and specific (those which are intrinsic to advance directives). The author points to the necessity of defining clear requirements that will secure full validity of advance directives in order to eliminate the limitations of this institute, as well as to the need of prior medical counseling that will help the patients to specify the medical measures they will consent to (or will refuse to consent to) and propose measures for reviewing whether there are some changes in the will of the patient compared to the will they expressed in the advance directives.