Chapitre 3. Dignité humaine et droit de la bioéthique dans la jurisprudence des Cours européenne et interaméricaine des droits de l’homme.

Abstract

This contribution analyses the way in which the European and Inter-American Courts of Human Rights handle the concept of Human Dignity in cases that present bioethical stakes. As they do not comprehend it in the same way – ‘Dignity-Freedom’ on the one hand, ‘Dignity-Equality’ on the other – it implies differences of solutions in areas such as the definition of the human person, the right to personal autonomy, the right to health or even the right to a healthy environment. This comparative analysis also allows us to grasp better the limits that a too liberal reading of human rights can represent and to propose some means of improvement. That would involve a review of the equal dignity of human beings by the European Court, thanks to different tools that can be put into action without the Court’s being forced to reconsider the theoretical basis on which its whole system is founded.