Council of Europe in the field of bioethics: the Convention on Human Rights and Biomedicine and other legal instruments.

摘要

The Council of Europe was established in 1949 and currently comprises 47 Member States (Council of Europe: http://www. coe.int). Its aim is the strengthening of unity among its members, specifically by maintaining and enhancing guarantees of human rights and fundamental freedoms in accordance with its "Convention for the Protection of Human and Fundamental Freedoms" from 4 November 1950. Advances in the fields of medicine and of biology in recent decades has made the protection of these rights and freedoms in these fields increasingly important to the Council of Europe.The "Comite ad hoc d'experts pour la bioethique" was initially set up to consider issues associated with in vitro fertilization. As these issues involve only specific aspects, the Council transformed this committee into its Steering Committee on Bioethics, or "Comite Directeur pour la Bioethique" (CDBI). Its brief is summarized in the title of its first product: "Convention on Human Rights and Biomedicine" (ETS no. 164), also known as the "Convention of Oviedo," and this contains the basic principles for any application of medical or biological methods on human beings, including those of biomedical research. The Convention and its additional protocols comprise legal instruments in the realm of international law. Such legal instruments of the European Union and ofCouncil of Europe are addressed to the governments of the Member States, and it is the responsibility of governments to harmonize domestic law with the specification of European regulations. The citizens of Member States are bound exclusively by national laws. The Convention and the protocols become legally binding upon a Member State's ratification. Ratification requires that such instruments be in conformity with preexisting domestic law, including those regulating legal instruments of the European Union. In preparing the documents, the CDBI pays attention to avoiding contradiction. Article 36 stipulates that should such a contradiction arise, the Member State and the EU may specify reservations regarding particular provisions of the Convention. A reservation must be based on existing domestic law or binding regulations of the EU.