Steering Committee for Human Rights in the fields of Biomedicine and Health (CDBIO)
Since 1 January 2022, the Steering Committee for Human Rights in the fields of Biomedicine and Health (CDBIO) has replaced the Committee on Bioethics (DH-BIO). Under the authority of the Committee of Ministers, and bearing in mind the Council of Europe legal standards, as well as the relevant jurisprudence of the European Court of Human Rights, the CDBIO is responsible for:
carrying out the work assigned to the Steering Committee in Bioethics by the Convention on the protection of human rights and the dignity of human beings with regards to the applications of biology and medicine (Convention on Human Rights and Biomedicine);
conducting the intergovernmental work on human rights protection in the fields of biomedicine, as well as health; in particular with regard to issues raised by the Covid-19 pandemic and taking into account the lessons to be learnt from the health crisis.
In accordance with its status of steering committee, the CDBIO holds regular exchange of views in order to evaluate its activities and advise the Committee of Ministers and the Secretary General on future priorities in its sectors including possible new activities and those that might be discontinued.
Prof. Siobhán O' Sullivan is Executive Director of the Royal Irish Academy since 2022. She is also Professor in the Royal College of Surgeons Ireland, where she teaches Healthcare Ethics and Law and is involved in curriculum development. From 2011-2022, she was the Chief Bioethics Officer at the Department of Health and was responsible for drafting policy advice and legislative instruments on bioethics related issues. From 2002-2010, Prof. O’Sullivan was Director of the Irish Council for Bioethics an independent, autonomous body to consider the ethical issues raised by developments in science and medicine. She is the vice-chair of the European Group on Ethics in Science & New Technologies, an independent, multidisciplinary body advising the European Commission in connection with Community legislation or policies. She is a former member of the Advisory Council for Science, Technology and Innovation, the Irish Government’s high-level advisory body on Science, Technology and Innovation (STI) policy issues. She received her Doctor of Medicine from Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm in 1998 and hold a Masters in Healthcare Ethics and law and a Masters in Human Rights Law.
Prof. Tomáš Doležal, Vice-Chair of the CDBIO
Head of the Department of Civil Law and Head of the Research Unit for Medical Law and Bioethics at the Institute of State and Law, Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic
Ass. Prof. JUDr. Tomáš Doležal, Ph.D., LL.M., is a leading legal scholar in medical and civil law. He is Head of the Department of Civil Law and Head of the Research Unit for Medical Law and Bioethics at the Institute of State and Law, Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic, and lecturer at the Institute of Medical Law and Public Health, Faculty of Medicine. He is a Bureau member of the Council of Europe Steering Committee for Human Rights in the fields of Biomedicine and Health (CDBIO) and Head of the Czech Unit of UNESCO International Network in Bioethics. He collaborates with the Association of General Practitioners, especially during public consultations on medical legislation.
He is the author of many publications, including the monographs The Doctor-Patient Relationship in Private Law, Protection of patients' rights, and Causation the Civil Law.
