This week, Sanita Osipova, Senator of the Senate's Department of Civil Cases, is taking part in the Berlin Economic Forum 2025, the theme of which is "International Business, Sustainable Investments & Environmental Projects for Advancing Global Development, Democracy and Peace". She is giving a presentation on the relationship between bioethics and the principle of human dignity.

In her presentation, the Senator emphasizes that science is bringing about fundamental changes in the life of society and that the legal system must therefore be reoriented in order to regulate the relationships that the new scientific opportunities bring. In doing so, both the legislator and the law enforcers must respect the principles of bioethics, four of which the Senator mentions as the most important. Firstly, when deciding on any issue, social values and, above all, human dignity, must be taken into account. Secondly, the principle of moral responsibility has to be observed, deciding truthfully and fairly. Thirdly, physical life is a value, but health is a value subordinate to and deriving from life. Finally, there is the principle of subsidiarity, namely when assessing the benefit to the individual this benefit must be balanced against the public interest.

The principles of bioethics in public policy are also promoted and established by a number of international instruments (conventions, declarations, international treaties), such as the Council of Europe Convention on Human Rights and Biomedicine of 4 April 1997, the UNESCO Universal Declaration on the Human Genome and Human Rights of 1997 and the International Declaration on Human Genetic Data of 2003. The UNESCO Universal Declaration on Bioethics and Human Rights, adopted in 2005, has made an important contribution to the unification of bioethical principles.

In summary, the Senator concludes that over the last 50 years, bioethics has developed three dimensions, namely applied ethics, national law and international law, which, through mutual control, form a set of requirements and, first and foremost, limit uncontrolled scientific experimentation on human beings in order to promote the protection of the human rights of the individual.

The Berlin Economic Forum aims to analyse and explore national economic policies with the particular focus on sustainable business, responsible foreign investments and environmental sustainability.  The Forum brings together representatives from the public and private sectors to encourage the development of programmes and projects that support sustainable economic growth, democracy and peace.

The Forum is organised by the Institute for Cultural Diplomacy (ICD), an international non-profit, non-governmental organisation based in the United States and Germany, founded in 1999.

 

Information prepared by

Rasma Zvejniece, Head of the Division of Communication of the Supreme Court

E-mail: rasma.zvejniece@at.gov.lv, telephone: +371 67020396, +371 28652211