Who sits on the regional review committees and how do they operate?
There are five regional review committees (the five regions are: Groningen, Friesland and Drenthe; Overijssel, Gelderland, Utrecht and Flevoland; North Holland; South Holland and Zeeland; North Brabant and Limburg), dealing with reported cases of euthanasia or assisted suicide. Each has an odd number of members, including in any event one legal expert (who also chairs the committee), one physician and one expert on ethical issues. This ensures that proper consideration is given to the legal, procedural, medical and moral aspects of cases. The committees reach their decisions by majority vote. The chairs and the ordinary members are all appointed by the Minister of Justice and the Minister of Health, Welfare and Sport for a period of six years. The five regional review committees have been in operation since 1 November 1998. Under the new Act, they are no longer obliged to report cases to the Public Prosecution Service if they feel that the statutory due care criteria have been met. The
