Legal Nature of the Embryo in Vitro

Abstract

The paper is an attempt of scientific understanding of the legal nature of the embryo in vitro, undertaken on the basis of the regulations governing their legal regime, as well as the practice of their application and doctrinal research. Embryos in vitro, being human embryos conceived and developing outside the mother’s body, because of their autonomous existence have raised questions about their legal nature. Without such determination, it is impossible to decide the fate of embryos in the event of the divorce of the persons who expressed the will to create them, in the event of the death of one or both of them (the so-called «orphan» embryos), in the event of the refusal of one or both of them to continue the reproductive assistance program. The paper examines the main points of view on the nature of the embryo in vitro, established in the doctrine, namely whether it is a subject of law, the object of law or is a special legal phenomenon, sui generis. The author comes to the conclusion that the embryo can not be attributed to the category of things, as well as to a broader category of property due to the lack of value equivalent and the inadmissibility of attempts to determine it, as otherwise contrary to the principles of morality. The embryo does not have legal capacity under the provisions of the current civil law, and granting it such a capacity may entail certain problems and conflicts of interest outlined in the paper. The most optimal is the consideration of the embryo as a special legal phenomenon (sui generis) with the definition of its place in the system of elements of legal relationship or an independent object of civil rights with a special legal regime, as the basis of which the author proposes to lay the principle of respect for human life at any stage of its development and the principle of preservation of human life.