Abstract
The term ‘human embryo’ is variously defined within the European legislations, both at national and supranational levels.
In particular, the European legislation varies with respect to the ‘personhood’ of the human embryo and with respect to the answer to the question of when human life begins.
Anyway, the legislations and the literature argue that a specific moral status has to be recognised for a human embryo.
Because of the special status of the human embryo, rules to protect it are provided by the legal sources.
Despite the differences in European legislation, some common principles are applicable to activities involving human embryos, especially in the fields of medicine and research.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution.
Buying options
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Learn about institutional subscriptionsNotes
- 1.
See Article 1(2) of Ley 14/2006 sobre técnicas de reproducción humana asistada of 26 May 2006.
- 2.
On the other hand, the above-mentioned Warnock Report takes into consideration the embryonic stage of the 6 weeks immediately following fertilisation, ‘which usually corresponds with the first 8 weeks of gestation counted from the first day of the woman’s last menstrual period’ (para. 1.4).
- 3.
Opinion delivered on 10 March 2011, ECLI:EU:C:2011:138.
- 4.
Court of Justice, judgment of 18 October 2011, Brüstle v Greenpeace e.V., C-34/10, ECR 2011 p. I-9821, ECLI:EU:C:2011:669.
- 5.
See also, in the Czech Republic, Article 2(d) of the Zákon o výzkumu na lidských embryonálních kmenových buňkách (Law on Stem Cell Research, 227/2006 Sb.).
- 6.
See Morgese (2012) for a commentary on the Brüstle judgment.
- 7.
EGE, ‘Ethical aspects of research involving human embryo in the context of the 5th Framework Programme’, Opinion No. 12, 23 November 1998, para. 1.13 ff.
- 8.
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 (ETS No 164,) opened for signature on 4 April 1997 in Oviedo.
- 9.
- 10.
ECJ judgment 14 October 2004, C-36/02, Omega Spielhallen- und Automatenaufstellungs-GmbH v Oberbürgermeisterin der Bundesstadt Bonn, ECR 2004, I-p. I-9609.
- 11.
The European Court of Human Rights affirmed, in its judgment in Evans v United Kingdom, that a human embryo has no legal personality, but the same Court, in its judgement in the Parrillo case (see note 13 below) seems to agree with the Italian Law no. 40/2004, which, in Article 1, considers the human embryo as a person. On the case law on Italian Law no. 40/2004, see Cippitani (2017).
- 12.
The EC Working Group on Human Embryos and Research, set up by the European Commission, states, in its first Report (1992,3), that ‘(t)hese views are fundamentally different and it is difficult to see how, at these extremes, the differences can be reconciled’. On ethical issues concerning embryo research, see Andorno (2013), passim, and in particular pp. 134 ff.; Solter et al. (2003).
- 13.
See ECtHR, Grand Chamber, judgment of 27 August 2015, Parrillo v Italy (Application no. 46470/11) (see the commentaries of D’amico (2015), Poli (2015) and Conti (2015)).
- 14.
See also the Additional Protocol to the Convention of Oviedo, on the Prohibition of Cloning Human Beings, of 1998.
- 15.
See the Declarations of the Commission (Framework Programme), 2013/C 373/02.
References
Andorno, R. (2009). Human dignity and human rights as a common ground for a global bioethics. Journal of Medicine and Philosophy, 34, 223–240.
Andorno, R. (2013). Principles of international biolaw. Seeking common ground at the intersection of bioethics and human rights. Brussels: Bruylant.
Baertschi, B. (2008). The question of the embryo’s moral status. Bioethica Forum, 1(2), 76–80.
Cippitani, R. (2017). The ‘curious case’ of Italian Law no. 40 of 2004: How the dialogue between judges is modifying the legislation on medically-assisted reproduction. Rights and Science, 23–42.
Devolder, K., & Jhon, H. (2007). The ambiguity of the embryo: Ethical inconsistency in the human embryonic stem cell debate. Metaphilosophy, 38(2–3), 153–169.
Jones, J. (2012). Human dignity in the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights and its interpretation before the European Court of Justice. Liverpool Law Review, 33(3), 281–300.
Mathieu, B. (1999). La Recherche sur l’Embryon au Regard des Droits Fondamentaux Constitutionnels. Recueil Dalloz, 41, 451–456.
Morgese, G. (2012). La recente giurisprudenza della Corte di giustizia dell’Unione Europea sulla protezione giuridica delle invenzioni biotecnologiche: le pronunzie Monsanto technology e Brüstle. Rivista di Diritto Agrario, 1, 3–32.
Palazzo, A. (2013). La filiazione. Milan: Giuffrè.
Solter, D., Beyleveld, D., Friele, M. B., Holówka, J., Lilie, H., Lovell-Badge, R., et al. (2003). Embryo research in pluralistic Europe. Berlin, Heidelberg: Springer-Verlag.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2019 Springer Nature Switzerland AG
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Cippitani, R. (2019). Human Embryo. In: Bartolini, A., Cippitani, R., Colcelli, V. (eds) Dictionary of Statuses within EU Law. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-00554-2_37
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-00554-2_37
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-030-00553-5
Online ISBN: 978-3-030-00554-2
eBook Packages: Law and CriminologyLaw and Criminology (R0)