Research Unit for Medical Law and Bioethics

The Research Unit for Medical Law and Bioethics was founded on 1 January 2011 by the Institute of Law and State of Czech Academy of Sciences. The research Unit carries out research in the area of medical law and bioethics and aims to support the interdisciplinary and multidisciplinary research of law and medicine. The aim of the Unit is to deepen understanding of medical law and bioethics and to facilitate cooperation between leading experts in the Czech Republic and abroad. For this purpose it organizes workshops and conferences (among others on topics like Ethical and Legal Aspects of Medical Research, New Healthcare Legislation – Progress or Uncertainty?, Informed Consent – Legal vs. Bioethical Understanding, Patient Privacy in Healthcare, Value of the Human Life in the Light of Wrongful Life and Wrongful Birth Cases, Causality as a Necessary Element of Legal Responsibility?, Moral Enhancement, Legal Responsibility of Healthcare Services Providers under the new Civil Code, Ethical and Legal Aspects of the Stem Cell Research, Death and Dying: Ethical, Legal and Medical Questions at the End of Life, Human Enhancement. Is Perfecting Humans Right?). It also manages a website www.zdravotnickepravo.info, which brings news and interesting facts from the area of medical law and bioethics, resp. publishes online Journal of Medical Law and Bioethics as well. The Journal is published four times a year. Issue 1 was published in April 2011.

In 2012 the Czech Unit of the UNESCO International Network in Bioethics (Haifa) was created. In 2013 the Unit became a part of EACME (The European Association of Centers of Medical Ethics). The members of the Unit give regular talks at national and international conferences, including top worldwide events of medical law and bioethics e.g the World Conference BIOETHICS, MEDICAL ETHICS & HEALTH LAW or International Conference, Quality and Safety along the Health and Social Care Continuum, Rio de Janeiro.  Members of the Unit regularly comment on current issues in medical law and bioethics in daily press and are invited to give talks to healthcare professionals. Some outputs of the members of the Unit are essential for the legal and ethical discourse of the professional public and determine the direction of research in the area of medical law.