Discussions on the Status of the Ethics Committee and Biobanking Practices in the Nordic Countries

Abstract

The article analyzes the institutional status of the ethics committee as a social regulator. The object of the study is the practice of legal and administrative regulation in the field of application of genetic technologies in the Nordic countries. To this end, a comparative analysis of national legislation and practices regulating the activities of biobanks in these countries is carried out. Particular attention is given to the legal status of the ethics committee, the possibility of the ethics committee performing a regulatory function, as well as its relation to the legal system, is being investigated. Various positions concerning the legitimization of the decisions of the ethics committee in modern literature are considered. The heterogeneity of this institution is determined, which makes it possible to consider it both as legal, administrative and metaethical social regulators.