The Last Moment of Life from the Perspective of Jurisprudence and Forensic Medicine

Death and life, from various perspectives, are regarded as serious and fundamental concepts for human beings. Medicine, jurisprudence, and law also treat this subject with great seriousness, since numerous juridical and legal consequences are contingent upon human life and death. Accordingly, resolving potential problems and disputes that arise in this domain—whether between members of society on the one hand, and physicians, the government, and other social actors on the other—has led jurists and legal scholars to closely examine these issues. On this basis, the present study seeks to analyze the concept of the last moment of life from the perspectives of jurisprudence and forensic medicine. The research method is interpretive–analytical, and data are analyzed through note-taking and interpretation of the collected information. The findings indicate that, from the physician’s perspective, when considering the last moment of a person’s life, a return to life is deemed impossible; therefore, a definitive ruling of homicide is issued, and the individual who placed the victim in the state of the last moment of life is identified as the killer. However, from the jurist’s perspective, based on juridical rulings and subsequent considerations (after certainty is achieved regarding the complete departure of the soul from the body), the last moment of life is not regarded as certainty-producing. Consequently, the application of definitive juridical and legal rulings of homicide is not considered permissible until certainty is attained regarding the complete departure of the soul from the body.