Part III Tasks and Objectives, s.1 Protecting and Promoting Human Rights, 25 Convention on Human Rights and Biomedicine

Subject(s):

Democracy — Human rights remedies — Rule of law

This chapter details the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Dignity of the Human Being with regard to the Application of Biology and Medicine: Convention on Human Rights and Biomedicine (the Convention). The Convention is the first legally binding international instrument with regard to biomedicine. It is a so-called framework Convention, laying down some basic principles and leaving further regulation for a series of additional protocols. This chapter first outlines relevant Council of Europe action in general and the Convention on Biomedicine with its Protocols in particular, before the institutional framework for these activities is addressed. It then looks at the impact of CoE bioethical standard setting on States, other international organisations, and European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) case-law. Finally, a short assessment concludes the chapter.