CAIRN.INFO : Matières à réflexion
2021/1
format_quote Citer ou exporter Ajouter à une liste Suivre cette revue

Article

After 30 years of development, the New Reproductive Technologies have not only been acknowledged as an acceptable method to alleviate human infertility but they must also be regarded as an example of the importance of techno science as a fundamental tool of social and cultural transformation.
The role of international and comparative law in this field is precisely to make us aware that those changes in the cultural and legal construction of the family are now global and imply to find a fair balanced approach of all the interest concerned. This might explain the function of but also the difficulties faced by international jurisdictions in defining how to combine those interests with the diversity of existing domestic legislation.
Examining the international case law regarding the protection of the embryo in vitro, I would like to look on 3 examples, which describe the diversity and the complexity of the present situation. All of them focus on the application of regional instruments or legislation by “supra” national jurisdictions: two are dealing with European law and the third one concerns the application of the Inter american Convention on Human Rights. We can then see that the scope of the protection depends on the definition given to the embryo.
The way the two European jurisdictions are approaching the issue -but not only this one- might be viewed as quite diffent and even opposed. In the field of Human Rights, the Court in Strasbourg is leaving a great margin of discretion to Members States while, in its own jurisdiction, the Court of Justice of the European Union is trying to reach common definition and interpretation to avoid unequal treatment…

Résumé

English

After 30 years of development, the New Reproductive Technologies have not only been acknowledged as an acceptable method to alleviate human infertility but they must also be regarded as an example of the importance of techno science as a fundamental tool of social and cultural transformation.
Examining the international case law regarding the protection of the embryo in vitro, I would like to look on 3 examples, which describe the diversity and the complexity of the present situation. All of them focus on the application of regional instruments or legislation by “supra” national jurisdictions: two are dealing with European law and the third one concerns the application of the Inter American Convention on Human Rights. We can then see that the scope of the protection depends on the definition given to the embryo.

  • embryo in vitro
  • definition
  • Regional Human Rights Protection
  • case law
Français

Chapitre 3. La procréation médicalement assistée et la protection de l’embryon in vitro dans la jurisprudence internationale

Après 30 ans de développement, les nouvelles technologies de la reproduction ont non seulement été reconnues comme une méthode acceptable pour lutter contre l’infertilité humaine, mais elles doivent également être considérées comme un exemple de l’importance de la technoscience en tant qu’outil fondamental de transformation sociale et culturelle.
En examinant la jurisprudence internationale relative à la protection de l’embryon in vitro, nous nous proposons d’examiner sur 3 exemples, qui décrivent la diversité et la complexité de la situation actuelle. Tous portent sur l’application des instruments ou législations régionales par les juridictions «supra» nationales: deux traitent du droit européen et le troisième concerne l’application de la Convention interaméricaine des droits de l’homme. On voit alors que l’étendue de la protection dépend de la définition donnée à l’embryon.

  • embryon in vitro
  • définition
  • protection régionale des droits de l’homme
  • jurisprudence

Plan

  1. I - The legal definition of the embryo
    1. A - How the absence of definition may work with the interpretation of the Convention?
      1. 1 - Embryo and Abortion
      2. 2 - Other reproductive rights
    3. B - An autonomous and uniform definition
      1. 1 - The case law of the CJEU
      2. 2 - The jurisprudence of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights
  3. II - The legal protection of the embryo in vitro
    1. A - The Human Rights approach and the physical inetgrity of the embryo: a protection based on a principle of evolving interpretation of the Conventions
      1. 1 - The jurisprudence of the ECHR
      2. 2 - The judgment of 28th novembre 2012 of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights (IACHR)
    3. B - The European Union Law: a broad protection limited to biotechnology patents
      1. 1 - The meaning of the expression “uses of human embryos for industrial or commercial purposes”
      2. 2 - Is technical teaching to be considered unpatentable?
  5. Conclusion

Auteur

Judge Christian Byk
Court of appeal, Paris, Secretary General, International Association of Law, Ethics and Science, Representative of France at the Intergovernmental Bioethics Committee.
Dernière publication diffusée sur Cairn.info ou sur un portail partenaire
Premières lignes 10€ Ajouter au panier
Il vous reste à lire 97 % de cet article.
Acheter cet article 15,00€ 20 pages, format électronique
(html et pdf) add_shopping_cart Ajouter au panier
S'abonner à Cairn Pro À partir de 15€ par mois Accédez en toute liberté à 153 revues de référence En savoir plus
Autres options
Membre d'une institution ? business Authentifiez-vous
Déjà abonné(e) à Cairn Pro ? person_outline Connectez-vous
Mis en ligne sur Cairn.info le 31/05/2021
https://doi.org/10.3917/jibes.321.0075
Pour citer cet article
Distribution électronique Cairn.info pour ESKA © ESKA. Tous droits réservés pour tous pays. Il est interdit, sauf accord préalable et écrit de l’éditeur, de reproduire (notamment par photocopie) partiellement ou totalement le présent article, de le stocker dans une banque de données ou de le communiquer au public sous quelque forme et de quelque manière que ce soit.
keyboard_arrow_up
Chargement
Chargement en cours.
Veuillez patienter...