Synthetic analysis of the ECJ Case C-34/10 Oliver Brüstle v Greenpeace e.V. and its ethical consequences
October 18th 2011, the Court of Justice of the European Union delivered an important judgment in the area of the protection of the human embryo in the case C-34/10 Oliver Brüstle v Greenpeace e.V. In this case the judges in Luxembourg précised the legal definition of the human embryo, and relying on the respect due [...]
Latvia: A remarkable Pro-Life campaign followed by an official conference in the Parliament on the “right to life”
Between August and October 2012 the small Baltic country of Latvia has been the place of a creative and effective Pro-Life campaign aimed at reopening the public debate over abortion, in a country with a very high level of abortion and a law demographic rate. A specific aim of the campaign is also to introduce [...]
Launch of the San José Articles at the European Parliament: “Life, as well as the right to life, starts at conception”
On October 26th 2011, the “San Jose Articles” were launched at a press conference held during the plenary session of the European Parliament in Strasbourg. You can access the video and audio (English and French) recording of the press conference here. (20 minutes) These articles were adopted in Costa Rica on 25th March 2011, to [...]
The ECJ’s judgment on stem cell patents: a tremendous pro-life victory
As readers of this blog have learned from a previous posting, the European Court of Justice (ECJ, the EU’s supreme judiciary instance) yesterday issued a judgment (C=34/10, Brüstle vs. Greenpeace) clarifying that (1) no patents can be issued for inventions involving “the use for human embryos for industrial or commercial purposes” as this would be [...]
Brüstle case: The Court of Justice of the European Union reaffirms that a process involving the destruction of an embryo cannot be patented.
In an important and closely-monitored judgment, the Court of Luxembourg has decided, in the case C-34/10 “Oliver Brüstle v Greenpeace e.V.”, that an invention is excluded from being patented where the process requires either the prior destruction of human embryos or their use as a base material. This is applicable even if, in the patent [...]
Hungarian Constitution a Victory for Life and Family
Exciting news from the Central European nation of Hungary, where the new government under Prime Minister Viktor Orban has adopted a new constitution which is expected to be ratified by Hungary’s President on April 25 and come into force at the beginning of 2012. The new constitution is significant in several ways. First, it is [...]
EU Advocate General’s opinion on unborn human life now available in English
See my earlier post. The English version of the Advocate General’s Conclusion is now available online.
EU Advocate General: Human Embryos to be protected as from conception
The case to be decided does not concern abortion, but the patentability of embryonic stem cells. And the conclusions of the Advocate General are not more than a legal opinion, even if the European Court of Justice (ECJ) is very likely to follow them (he does so in most cases). Nevertheless, the Conclusions of Attorney [...]
The social cost of “Anti-Discrimination”: higher insurance fees for everyone
The European Court of Justice (ECJ) today issued a highly controversial judgment, according which insurance companies will be obliged to offer “unisex fees” for all insurance schemes, even if the insured risk differs significantly between men and women. It is the first time that the EU is confronted with the consequences of having enshrined into [...]