Ethics committees have been active in Germany for 15 years now. Since 1983, such committees, which were established under public law with medical schools, medical associations and representatives of the Federal Health Office among their members, have established a working group with a growing membership of currently some 45 committees. The group's functions include the exchange of experience, the discussion of relevant ethical issues as well as the harmonization and standardization of their internal procedures. In addition, it serves as a point of contact for members of Parliament, Government and journalists. Since 1990, the group has published four yearbooks under the title of ‘Medizin-Ethik’ [1]. Germany's ethics committees are bodies serving no other purpose than that of biomedical research on human beings (scientific experiments, diagnostic and therapeutic methods, clinical trials involving drugs). They are intended to protect test persons and patients against acts which must not be permitted for ethical and/or legal reasons. Ethics committees fulfil the task of counselling the medically responsible researcher and of examining in advance whether relevant scientific, legal, medical and ethical standards will be met by the biomedical project envisaging scientific research on human beings and whether such a project will not violate accepted values. The ethical and legal standards to be adhered to in this connection have been laid down in the declaration issued by the World Medical Association in Helsinki/Tokyo/Venice/Hong Kong, they have been codified in human rights declarations and in a great number of national legal provisions and have been included in scientific standards. Under paragraph 4 of section 1 of their professional regulations, German physicians are liable ‘to obtain advice… from an ethics committee set up with the regional office of their professional association or with a medical school before conducting biomedical experiments on human beings…’ The function of ethics committees is to provide advice. The committee's conclusions are summarized to make a recommendation which reflects the committee's opinion. Ethical ideals and standards cannot be established or modified by an ethics-committee. The committees are not allowed to decide on the validity or non-validity of such standards by a majority of votes, as some critics suspect, nor can they establish truth by putting it to the vote. What they do establish in a normal procedure permitted by law is the result of careful consideration: the committee makes a judgement on whether or not any scientific, legal, medical or ethical objections have to be raised against the project in question, after it has taken into account the respective prerequisites and conditions of the project submitted for evaluation. The accusation that ethics committees relieve physicians and researchers of their responsibility is as serious as it is unjustified. By their very nature, ethics committees can never replace a doctor's conscience. The moral and legal responsibility is bound to remain with the physician and scientist concerned, who is left with the decision whether or not to go ahead with the project in question. The experience we have acquired over a period of 15 years will enable us to answer questions concerning substantive and procedural problems involved in carrying out ethics consultation.