The Council of Europe Convention on Human Rights and Biomedicine: a new look at international biomedical law and ethics.

The Council of Europe Convention on Human Rights and Biomedicine is European in conception but has a wider territorial application since non-Member States which have participated in its elaboration may sign it. This article evaluates the Convention as the first legally binding international biomedical law and ethics document to uphold human dignity as a fundamental concept and to provide a legal framework for societies with different sociocultural and philosophical backgrounds. It is argued that such a legal framework must be underpinned by a monist-naturalist conception of justice privileging human dignity as one of its guiding principles.