Committee on Bioethics

One of the objectives of the Council of Europe is to protect the individual’s dignity and fundamental rights with regard to the applications of biology and medicine. To that end, the Committee on Bioethics (DH-BIO), formerly Steering Committee on Bioethics (CDBI), was set up to address ethical and legal challenges raised by developments in the biomedical field. Following the adoption of the Convention on Human Rights and Biomedicine (Oviedo Convention), the Committee on Bioethics is assigned the task to conduct regular re-examinations foreseen in the Convention and its Additional Protocols and to develop further its principles, as appropriate. In addition, under the supervision of the Steering Committee for Human Rights (CDDH), the Committee on Bioethics is conducting intergovernmental work on the protection of human rights in the field of biomedicine assigned to it by the Committee of Ministers.

The Committee on Bioethics is an intergovernmental body which meets twice a year, consisting of delegations of the 47 Member States with expertise in the various aspects of bioethics.

The Convention on Human Rights and Biomedicine is the first international legally binding instrument in the field of bioethics. It provides a framework for the protection of human rights and human dignity by establishing fundamental principles applicable to health care, medical research, transplantation and genomics.

(Source: Council of Europe)