European bioethics convention signed

Western Europe moved a step nearer to internationally binding legal rules on bioethics last week, when almost a score of countries signed the first ever convention on human rights and biomedicine.

Drafted by the Strasbourg based Council of Europe–which has no connection with the better known European Union–the convention is intended to establish common standards as research continues to expand across national boundaries. These will be translated into domestic legislation by the signatories and will provide for legal sanctions and compensation for people who are damaged after any medical treatment or research.

The convention, which took almost six years to draft, starts from the premise that the interests of human beings come before those of science or …