Michael Fuchs National ethics councils - Deutscher Ethikrat

Michael Fuchs National ethics councils. Their backgrounds, functions and modes of operation compared
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Norway
Norway considers its model of the national organization of research ethics to be
unique in so far as it not only extends to biomedicine and biotechnology but also
seeks to cover all fields of research. In 1988/89, the Government proposed the establishment
of three national committees for research ethics. Following parliamentary
approval in 1990, the Ministry of Education, Research and Church Affairs defined
their mandates in detail. The members are nominated by the Research Council of
Norway and appointed by the Minister. They are not representatives of interest
groups, but are selected on the basis of personal qualification. Each committee is to
comprise at least nine members, of whom two in each case must be not specialists but
lay persons. The other members are specialists in ethics and law and specialists in the
disciplines for which the relevant committee is competent. In the case of the National
Committee for Medical Research Ethics (Den Nasjonale Forskningsetiske Komité
for Medisin, NEM), at least clinical practice and genetics must be represented. Important
issues considered have been the communication of fundamental and clinical
research, problems of resource allocation, and also the interests of sport. In
September 2001, the Committee published guidelines on the inclusion of women in
clinical studies. During the current term (2003 – 2005), guidelines for clinical research
on persons with limited mental competence are in preparation.
In the case of the National Committee for Research Ethics in Science and Technology
(Den Nasjonale Forskningsetiske Komité for Naturvitenskap og Teknologi,
NENT), the natural sciences, industry, technology, agricultural and fisheries research
must be represented, and there is explicit provision for representation of the disciplines
of ecology and modern biotechnology. The Committee has worked on problems
of gene technology in agriculture and on fisheries issues, and has taken part in
research projects for the European Commission.
Finally, with the NESH (Den Nasjonale Forskningsetiske Komité for Samfunnsvitenskap
og Humaniora), Norway also possesses an equivalent committee for
research ethics in the social sciences and the humanities. The specialists represented
on this committee are required to possess expertise in the fields of history, government,
sociology, psychology and ethnology. Its competence extends from the ethical
aspects of social-science research on children and of migration research to ethical issues
in literary studies.
In each of the fields covered by the three committees, research ethics is supposed not
to be defined narrowly but to be understood in the wider sense of a scientific ethics that
takes account of the responsibility of the sciences for social issues. Coordination and
the ability to take advantage of synergies are intended to be facilitated by institutional
and physical proximity. The committees share a single press and information office.
Website
De Nasjonale Forskningsetiske Komiteer: http://www.etikkom.no
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