Human dignity and international biomedical standards – an outline of the issues

Abstract

The article deals with references to human dignity in international biomedical law standards. It contains reflections on the contemporary understanding of the concept of dignity of a human being, and an analysis of acts of international law, adopted on both a universal and regional level, which refer to the obligation to respect this dignity. It presents the challenges and threats posed by modern biomedicine and the importance of the obligation to protect human dignity, which should be a barrier to the broadly understood instrumentalization of the human being.