Bodily integrity

The right to physical integrity is guaranteed as a human right in various constitutions and international treaties.

Germany

The right to physical integrity is one of the fundamental rights of a human being in the jurisdiction of the Basic Law for the Federal Republic of Germany. It is guaranteed together with the right to life and the right to personal liberty in Article 2, Paragraph 2 of the Basic Law:

Everyone has the right to life and physical integrity. Personal liberty is inviolable. These rights may be interfered with only pursuant to a law.

The fundamental right protects both the physical as well as mental health of a person, but not the social well -being. Torture, corporal punishment, human experiments, castration, forced sterilization and other pain -causing activities are prohibited by these constitutional guarantees. Article 104 paragraph 1 GG about clarifies that prisoners may be " abused either mentally or physically ." However, operation of law, the physical integrity be restricted, which makes it for example possible to remove potential offenders fact-finding blood samples (IfSG § 20 para 6 ) enforce ( § 81a ) or in case of epidemics arranged a compulsory vaccination.

His criminal expression is the right to physical integrity in § 223 to § 231 of the Criminal Code. The offenses contained there in the 17th section against the physical integrity include the assault with their different skill offenses, the maltreatment of charges and the involvement in a brawl.

Furthermore this is a disponibles legal interest, ie the owner can usually come about at will. However, these free availability is limited by § 228 of the Criminal Code in German law, which require that an injury is unlawful even with the consent of the injured person, if it is contrary to good morals.

The Federal Constitutional Court had repeatedly to deal with interference with the fundamental rights, such as with regard to

• The medical coercive treatment of detainees in indefinite detention
• Of medical examination methods (removal of brain and Rückenmarksflüßigkeit or air filling of the ventricle ) in criminal proceedings
• Postmortem organ removal
• Protection from the adverse effects of aircraft noise
• The protection against interference from a nuclear repository
• The reasonableness of seat belt use
• The assumption of costs of life-saving drugs
• Protection against interference from electromagnetic fields in a transformer station
• Protection against health risks from ozone
• The use of water cannons
• The Non smoking protection by the legislature

With regard to the religiously motivated circumcision of boys, the balance between the right to physical integrity and freedom of religion is discussed partly passionately since summer 2012.

Austria

In the Austrian Federal Constitution, the right to physical integrity is not stated explicitly. However, such protection area gives, inter alia, of the European Convention on Human Rights of 1958, which enjoys constitutional status since 1964.

Switzerland

In Switzerland, Article 10 paragraph 2 guarantees of the Federal Constitution of the Swiss Confederation, the right to physical and mental integrity.