Respective legal responsibilities among clinicians and scientists for frozen embryos

Abstract

The Court of Appeal is to review the decision of a Crown Court judge who directed a jury to return a not-guilty verdict on a charge of keeping frozen embryos except in pursuance of a licence contrary to the Human Fertilization and Embryology Act 1990. The embryos were under the immediate care and control of an embryologist in the same centre. The judge held that the Person Responsible had a supervisory responsibility only and was not, on the facts, criminally liable. As a Circuit Judge's decision is of doubtful validity as a legal precedent, the Crown Prosecution Service sought the leave of the Attorney General to refer the point of law for an authoritative decision. It will not affect the acquittal of this Person Responsible, but it will set down a clear legal precedent for the future. Until that decision is known, Persons Responsible would be well advised to consider themselves to be criminally responsible for all activities which are carried on in their licensed centres.