* Reproduced from the Provisional Edition of the Convention on Human Rights and Biomedicine provided by the Council of Europe. The Explanatory Report following the Convention is reproduced from Council of Europe Document DIR/JUR (97) 1, January, 1997. See Recent Actions Regarding Treaties to which the United States is Not a Party, 36 I.L.M. 1051 (1997), for a current list of countries that have signed the Convention.

[The Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms, November 4,1950, appears at 45 AJ.I.L. Supp. 24 (1951); the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, December 16, 1966, appears at 6 I.L.M. 360 (1967); the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, December 16, 1966, appears at 6 I.L.M. 368 (1967); the Convention for the Protection of Individuals with regard to Automatic Processing of Personal Data, January 28, 1981, appears at 20 I.L.M. 317 (1981); the Convention on the Rights of the Child, November 20, 1989, with an Introductory Note by Cynthia Price Cohen, appears at 28 I.L.M. 1448 (1989); and the European Social Charter, Revised May 3, 1996, appears at 36 I.L.M. 31 (1997).

[For additional information contact the Council of Europe, Directorate of Legal Affairs, BP 431R6, Strasbourg 67006, France (tel.: (33)(88)412000; fax: (33)(88)412791).]

1 Opinion No. 184 of 2 February 1995, Doc 7210.

2 26 September 1996, Doc 7622.

3 Germany, Belgium and Poland abstained when the Committee of Ministers took the vote on the adoption of the Convention. Germany, Belgium and Ireland abstained when the Committee of Ministers took the vote on the authorisation of publication of the explanatory report

4 Other international texts, including the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (1966) and the European Social Charter (1961), impose obligations in this field on the States party to them

5 In the case of persons not capable of consenting, authorization for treatment, according to the meaning in this context, may be justified under Article 6, paragraph 3.

6 The Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe has adopted two Recommendations on screening: Recommendation R (90) 13 on prenatal genetic screening, prenatal genetic diagnosis and associated genetic counselling and Recommendation R (92) 3 on genetic testing and screening for health care purposes.

7 The Committee of Ministers has entrusted the Steering Committee on Bioethics (CDBI) with the preparation of a protocol on organ transplants which will develop notably the principles contained in this Chapter.

8 See the similar provisional response of the Committee of Ministers on the Parliamentary Assembly's Recommendation N° 1213 on developments in biotechnology and the consequences for agriculture, where reference is made to the question of patenting biotechnological inventions.

9 Proposal for a European Parliament and Council Directive on the legal protection of biotechnological inventions, COM (95) 661 final.