Genomic Research in International, European, and Russian Jurisprudence
Modern science achievements contribute to the development of international and national ethical and legal approaches in the field of genome research while respecting human rights, ensuring safety, and maintaining the potential for scientific and technological progress. At the same time, there are no legal documents devoted exclusively to biomedicine and genomic research. This situation has led to the development of international standards either through the general principles of protecting human rights or through “soft law” norms. In addition, a significant regulatory gap exists caused by the lack of security measures in international jurisprudence. A similar trend occurs at the regional level. At the same time, in the framework of the Council of Europe, a single international treaty has been adopted that is directly devoted to bioethics and genomic research. The 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 was adopted by the Council of Europe in April 1997 in Oviedo. The active development of biomedicine and genomic research caused conflicts between ethics and law. These issues became cases in highest judicial instances, including supranational structures, in particular, the Council of Europe and the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR). The ECHR influences Russia through the so-called “non-prohibitive practice.” Nevertheless, despite the law’s imperfections, Russia develops its own approach to the existing system of international standards that admit national uniqueness in this sphere. Despite attempts to restrict the influence of supranational judicial institutions on the Russian legal order in the middle of this decade, the practice of the ECHR as a source of Russian law influences the practice of Russian courts even in this sphere (Russian judges refer to the decisions of the ECHR).