The right to integrity of the person (RIOP) is based on what it means to be a person. Each person’s physical and mental space ought to be protected.
Therefore, the RIOP is a very important aspect of bioethics. Bioethics refers to the protection of human rights in the field of biology and medicine. These are two areas where research and developments have produced major progress for humankind. However, there are also increasing possibilities to control human life, which raise challenges for the protection of individual’s rights.
The ‘HELP in the 28’ course on the “Right to the integrity of the person (Bioethics)” explores this topic in an interactive way, showing the synergies and differences between the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the EU, the European Convention on Human Rights and the Convention on Human Rights and Biomedicine (Oviedo Convention) .
It also reviews the case law of the European Court of Human Rights and the Court of Justice of the European Union pointing out to problems such as medical interventions or removal of organs without consent, medically assisted procreation or end-of-life situations.
More specifically, the course is composed of two large modules:
- the first one presents the RIOP in general which has been traditionally covered by the right to private life and the prohibition of torture;
- the second module will cover the RIOP in the specific fields of medicine and biology.
The course has been under the “HELP in the 28” Programme implemented by the Council of Europe. Funded by the EU, “HELP in the 28” is the largest training project within the EU on fundamental rights for judges, prosecutors and lawyers.
If you complete the course and scores over 60% in the multiple choice questions throughout it, you will be entitled to print a ‘statement of accomplishment’ from the HELP in the 28 Programme.
Get access to the course here: http://help.ppa.coe.int/course/view.php?id=812 once you are logged in in your HELP account. If you do not have an account yet, open it at http://help.ppa.coe.int/login
