Michael Fuchs National ethics councils - Deutscher Ethikrat

Michael Fuchs National ethics councils. Their backgrounds, functions and modes of operation compared
2. Institutional framework models and assignment
to agencies of the state
All national ethics bodies were established as independent entities. Their orientation
is admittedly influenced by both the body competent to appoint members and the
initiative for their foundation. For this reason, the competence for appointments is
often shared, especially in the various European models. The institutional framework
and physical location call for separate consideration. Here again, a consistent situation
is not observed. In the instances where the power of appointment and the institutional
framework coincide wholly or partially, as in Portugal or Italy, this has at
least strong symbolic significance. In the case of Italy, political crises seem at times also
to have entailed a crisis of the ethics committee, or at least a discontinuity in its activity.
For both variants of the United States Presidential model, specific intentions
can be discerned behind their establishment, although these are not binding on the
bodies and do not preclude their independent operation. Again, the varying degree
of interest on the part of the government entities to which the ethics committees are
assigned, as in some central European countries, does not by itself fundamentally call
into question the independence of the advisory body and its members.
A factor of particular importance for the practical working of the committees in
this respect is that, regardless of the detailed technical provisions, there is no evidence
of influence being exerted over budgets. However, the conferment of a statutory basis
on many ethics bodies has contributed substantially to their independence (Kennedy).
This ensures that these bodies have a solid democratic foundation even where the initiative
for their establishment stemmed from a specific institution of state.
3. Size and Composition
The number of members ranges from five (Uruguay) to over 40 (France 42; Italy 51).
In most cases the figure is somewhere in the middle of this range, between 15 and 25.
The main consideration here is to ensure the representation of a multiplicity of viewpoints
while at the same time permitting face-to-face debate.
The transition from an ad hoc body to a permanent entity calls for different
arrangements as regards expertise and a systematic response to the problem of social
plurality and representativeness. Two main strategies are deployed for this purpose,
in different combinations. One is to describe the required competences in concrete,
detailed terms, while the other involves an attempt to achieve the desired result by detailed
stipulation of the competence to make appointments. Whereas Norway, for instance,
opts for the first approach, Denmark can be regarded as an example of the
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second. In a few cases, the initial choice of members seems to have preceded the description
of competences and the groups to be represented. This is true, say, of the
NBAC in the United States (Capron, 66), whose exact composition was not described
until its mandate was extended. A common feature of all models is that the membership,
even if deliberately chosen from specific disciplines or backgrounds, is supposed
to comprise independent individuals rather than representatives of a lobby.
Occasionally, as in Norway or Ireland, there are explicit provisions to that effect.
Subject expertise
Unlike commissions with specific, narrowly defined terms of reference, the permanent
bodies must possess a reasonably wide range of competences. In most cases, a
spectrum extending from fundamental research to clinical application is required for
the life sciences and medicine. In view of the breadth of the subject-matter to be covered,
external experts are co-opted for individual deliberations. So are representatives
of patients and other research subjects. Since it is not possible to appoint patients’
representatives as members for all diseases covered by a committee’s deliberations,
the relevant aspects from the point of view of the persons concerned must be addressed
by means of hearings. This principle is departed from only in a very small
number of instances (e.g. the ETENE in Finland).
Ethical expertise
Specific ethical expertise within the committee itself is not demanded in all cases. In
France, for example, where such expertise is provided only indirectly through the
representatives of the various faiths and philosophies, it is reported that a competence
to analyse ethical problems develops in all members precisely during the course of the
committee’s work. Often (for example in some of the central and eastern European
committees), an interest in ethical issues is an explicit criterion for the selection of
scientific and medical experts. Not only prior evidence of an interest in ethical problems
but also relevant professional competence is required by a number of models (see
Hermerén), as is indicated by the demand for philosophically or theologically based
ethical expertise. The requirement that legal experts and social scientists be involved
appears to have the same origins. Whether the ethicists appointed are expected to
stand for particular values or instead to possess scientific and philosophical competence
(see Hermerén) is not clear from the founding documents, nor can the balance
between these requirements readily be discerned from the committees’ practice.
Plurality of faiths and philosophies of life
Many of the bodies discussed here insist on the representation not only of a multiplicity
of disciplines but also of a plurality of philosophies and creeds. This requirement
is satisfied on the one hand by stipulations on their overall composition and on
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