Open Lecture | Autonomy, Protection, and Dignity at the End of Life

Monday , 27 de April 2026 - 11:15
2
April 27, 2026
11:15 AM – 12:30 PM
Católica Medical School
To access the Open Lecture online, you can use this link

If you would like to attend in person, please let us know by email - with the subject Open Lecture Registration
Within the framework of the course Health Law, Catolica Medical School is hosting an Open Lecture dedicated to the legal and ethical dimensions of end-of-life care in medical practice.

The session will focus on the topic:
“Autonomy, Protection and Dignity at the End of Life: Legal and Ethical Implications for Medical Practice”

This lecture is part of the course curriculum and aims to deepen understanding of the Portuguese legal framework applicable to end-of-life decisions, promoting critical reflection on the relationship between Law, Ethics and clinical practice.

Among others, the following relevant legal instruments will be analysed:
  • Law no. 25/2012 – Advance Directives and the National Living Will Registry (RENTEV);
  • Law no. 52/2012 – Basic Law on Palliative Care;
  • Law no. 31/2018 – Rights of Persons in Advanced Illness and at the End of Life;
  • Law no. 49/2018 – Legal Framework for Accompanied Adults;
  • Law no. 7/2026, of February 25 – Statute of the Elderly Person.
The session will address these topics in light of the concrete challenges faced by healthcare professionals, particularly regarding clinical decision-making, the protection of vulnerable individuals, and respect for human dignity.

 
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Guest Professor Fernando José Borges Correia de Araújo Full Professor at the Faculty of Law of the University of Lisbon and Dean of the Legal and Economic Sciences Group at FDUL. He holds a PhD and aggregation from the same Faculty and carries out teaching and research in the fields of Philosophy of Law, Introduction to Economics, and Economic Analysis of Law (Law & Economics). He coordinates several postgraduate programs, including areas such as Bioethics, Health Law, and Pharmaceutical Law and Economics. He also works as a lawyer, arbitrator, and legal consultant, and serves on ethics committees in academic institutions.


Moderation:
Mara de Sousa Freitas - Coordinator of the Health Law course 

Free entry | Open to the academic community

These Open Lectures aim to bring students closer to the legal and ethical realities that frame contemporary medicine, contributing to the education of healthcare professionals who are technically competent, legally informed and ethically responsible.
 

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