Personal autonomy is often lauded as a key value in contemporary bioethics. In this thesis, I aim to provide a rationalist account of personal autonomy that avoids the philosophical flaws present in theories of autonomy that are often invoked in bioethics, and that can be usefully applied to contemporary bioethical issues. I claim that we can understand the concept of autonomy to incorporate two dimensions, which I term the 'reflective' and 'practical' dimensions of autonomy. I suggest that the reflective dimension pertains to the critical reflection that agents must carry out on their motivating desires, in order to be autonomous with respect to them. I begin by rejecting prominent desire-based and historical accounts of this dimension of autonomy, before going on to defend an account based upon a Parfitian analysis of rational desires. Following this analysis of the reflective dimension of autonomy, I argue that autonomy can also be understood to incorporate a practical dimension, pertaining to the agent's ability to act effectively in pursuit of their ends. I claim that recognising this dimension of autonomy more comprehensively reflects the way in which we use the concept of autonomy in bioethics, and makes salient the fact that agents carry out their rational deliberations in the light of their beliefs about what they are able to do. I go on to argue that this latter point means that my account of autonomy can offer a deeper explanation of why coercion undermines autonomy than other prominent accounts. Having considered the prudential value of autonomy in the light of this theoretical analysis, in the latter half of the thesis I apply my rationalist account of autonomy to a number of contemporary bioethical issues, including the use of human enhancement technologies, the nature of informed consent, and the doctor-patient relationship.

"Mémoire présenté à la Faculté des études supérieures en vue de l'obtention du grade de Maîtrise en LL.M. Droit - Recherche option Droit, Biotechnologies et Sociétés" / Les registres médicaux sont des banques de données, ayant des caractéristiques spécifiques, rassemblant tous les cas d'une maladie sur un territoire précis. Ces informations permettent la mise en place de politiques de santé publique ainsi que l'étude de maladies afin de faire progresser la recherche médicale. La question se pose donc de savoir comment la réglementation concernant le respect de la vie privée s'applique aux particularités des registres. La législation actuellement en vigueur au Québec prévoit l'obligation d'obtenir le consentement du patient avant d'inclure les données le concernant dans le registre. Ces renseignements personnels de santé recueillis dans le registre doivent être protégés afin de respecter la vie privée des participants. Pour cela, des mesures concernant la confidentialité et la sécurité des données doivent être mises en place en vue de leur conservation et durant celle-ci. Après l'utilisation principale de ces données, il est possible de se servir à nouveau de ces renseignements personnels à d'autres fins, qu'il faille ou non les transférer vers une autre banque de données, nationale ou étrangère. Néanmoins cette utilisation secondaire ne peut se faire qu'à certaines conditions, sans porter atteinte au droit des participants concernant le respect de la vie privée. / Medical registries are databases which record aIl cases of a specifie disease found in a given area. Registries provide vital information for public health research and for the implementation of appropriate public policies. The question is : How does the regulation of privacy apply to registries? Legislation currently in force in the province of Quebec requires the consent of a patient in order to inc1ude personal information in the registry. Personal health data in a registry have to be protected to preserve the privacy of research subjects. To ensure data security and confidentiality sorne measures must be taken during their conservation. Secondary use of data is possible under certain conditions aimed at protecting the right to privacy. It is possible to use such personal information again for other purposes even if the data need to be transferred to another national or foreign database.

Quelles sont les conditions sous lesquelles nous pouvons dire qu’un acte sexuel est moralement permissible? Plus précisément, quel est le rôle qui doit être accordé à la notion de consentement des partenaires dans la détermination de l’acceptabilité morale des actes sexuels? Dans un premier temps, je tâcherai d’exposer la nature même du consentement, en soulignant son caractère performatif ainsi que ses composantes essentielles, sans la présence desquelles le consentement serait invalide. Sur cette base, j’établirai trois schémas possibles quant à la fonction du consentement, selon qu’on en fasse une condition de la permissibilité morale qui soit a) suffisante et nécessaire, b) non suffisante mais nécessaire, c) ni suffisante ni nécessaire. Je tenterai ensuite de voir quelles peuvent être les autres conditions qui complètent ou remplacent la nécessité du consentement. Dans cette perspective j’examinerai plus scrupuleusement une position conforme au deuxième schéma, soit celle que Raymond Belliotti a développée dans son ouvrage Good Sex (1993). Pour conclure, j’avancerai l’hypothèse que plusieurs des conditions qui complètent ou remplacent la nécessité du consentement en matière sexuelle peuvent être conçues soit comme une redondance, au sens où ces conditions sont déjà implicites dans la définition même du consentement, soit comme une limitation aux libertés individuelles, telles qu’on les conçoit dans un esprit libéral. / What are the conditions under which we can say that sexual acts are morally permissible? More specifically, what role should consent play in determining the moral permissibility of sexual acts? I will first expose the nature of consent and outline its performative character as well as its essential components, whose absence would invalidate consent. On this basis, I will then establish three possible structures: the first structure takes consent to be a sufficient and necessary condition of the moral permissibility of sexual acts; the second structure considers that consent is necessary but not sufficient to moral permissibility; and, according to the third structure, consent is neither sufficient nor necessary to moral permissibility. I will then try to see what other conditions are required to complement or replace the condition of consent. More specifically, I will discuss a theory that Raymond Belliotti proposed in his 1993 book Good Sex, a theory that seems to comply with the second structure. To conclude, I will argue that most conditions that complement or replace the condition of consent in the sexual realm could be thought of either as redundant because they are already included in the initial definition of consent, or as a restriction of the individual freedom inherent to liberal ethics.

In the past twenty years a global trend has emerged illustrating increasing rates of violence against women, with HIV rates among this population also steadily on the rise. Despite the burden of the problem, there is scant corpus of literature exploring the influence of domestic violence on HIV. Therefore, this study examined the association between domestic violence and women’s decision to consent to HIV testing, and their HIV status. Using the 2007 Zambia Demographic and Health Survey, it was found that Zambian women who have experienced domestic violence are 13% more likely to consent to an HIV test. After adjusting for residence as a confounder, women who had experienced domestic violence were 11% more likely to test positive for HIV. Studies similar to this one could provide the basis for future policy and program planning that would have significant implications on violence against women in HIV prevalent populations.

The topic of the thesis is Public participation in the environmental impact assessment proceedings (EIA). The thesis is divided into three chapters further divided into subchapters. The first chapter deals with the EIA proceedings in general including the history and legal sources of EIA. Moreover the Aarhus convention (as a principal source confirming the public participation in decision making proceedings in environmental matters) is described in detail. The following chapter examines the term of "development consent" and related term "subsequent procedure" as a fundamental conditions to ensure public participation in the appropriate extent as is set down by the directive 2011/92/EU. The third chapter is focused on the main issues related with the Czech legislation regarding the form and methods of public participation in the EIA proceedings and subsequent procedures as well as an access of a public concerned to a review procedure before a court.

An informed consent of a patient is an institute in the area of medical law, which is still being developed and deals with both private and public legislation. It is one of the legal reasons for interference into physical and mental integrity of a patient, without which every act would be unlawful. This thesis provides an overview of the current legislation of this institute in the light of the new Civil Code, outlines possible application issues between the new legislation and the legislation that is no longer effective. The aim of this thesis is to give a comprehensive review of the criminal aspects of the informed consent, especially its role as a circumstance of justification. The content of this thesis is an analogous legislation in the Federal Republic of Germany, which is being compared to the Czech legislation in the final chapter. The thesis consists of seven chapters. The first one deals with the relationship between the doctor and the patient and its changes in time periods, which are necessary for the new legislation to be well understood. The second chapter gives an overview of the current legislation starting with the constitutional law, including international treatments, statutes, the Code of Ethics, all over to the regulation of the Czech Medical Chamber. It focuses on specific parts...

The thesis addresses the analysis and comparison of individual elements of defenses under Czech and German criminal legal statutes with respect to the conclusions, which are therefrom drawn in theory and practice. The aim of the thesis was to render overview concerning the distinctions in the defenses, provided that these are based on common reasoning, are generally acknowledged and theoretically elaborated, rather than to present an exhaustive commentary on all legal institutes which exclude illegality and as such come into mind. The fact that the defenses are mutually close in their character and meaning within both legal systems was a major prerequisite for the thesis. The thesis analyses the distinctions with regard to the individual preconditions of separate defenses. These distinctions are not limited only to the extent of the wording of a legal statute, they also greatly manifest in professional literature and case law. Owing to the brief and abstract nature of the respective provisions the courts and theorists developed large quantities of principles and rules which precise and sometimes even amend these provisions. The subject has been processed under consideration of the present-day legal regulation, the topics of origin and development of defenses has intentionally not been discussed....

Title of thesis: Restriction of Performance of Other Gainful Activity During the Employment Relationship Abstract This diploma thesis deals with the issue of restriction of performance of other gainful activity by employee during his employment relationship. In accordance with the wording of the legal provision governing the employee's obligation not to compete with his employer by performance of other gainful activity, it may seem that this is fairly clear regulation. However, further examination provides more detailed view that the provision conceals several aspects which may be confusing for employees. Such misunderstanding of this restriction may frequently lead to breach of that duty, without awareness of employee. It is therefore no exception that the Supreme Court of the Czech Republic often deals with the settlement of disputes concerning void termination of an employment relationship, which occurred by the employer due to a breach of the employee's obligation not to perform other gainful activity which is prohibited by law. By studying this case-law thoroughly, it is possible to find out boundaries between what is considered to be a violation in question and what is not. In fact, the legislation imposes the restriction on the performance of other gainful activity on the employer's scope of...

No description available.

LEGAL ASPECTS OF PROVIDING HEALTH CARE TO MINORS This thesis deals with the legal aspects of providing health care to minors in the Czech Republic and in Ireland, and compares the approach to regulation. Regulation of healthcare has undergone a significant change since the ratification of the Convention on Human Rights and Biomedicine. The traditional notion of the doctor-patient relationship as a paternalistic relationship has been abandoned and replaced by an equal relationship - partnership. This change culminated in the adoption of the Health Services Act as well as in other laws adopted in the framework of the reform of health care law. The adoption of the Civil Code could be seen as the final contribution in the discussion of the doctor-patient relationship. The Civil Code includes provisions regulating health care treaty, as a named type of a contract, leaving no doubt about the private-law nature of the doctor-patient relationship. The relationship between the Civil Code and the Act on the Provision of Health Services is complicated and requires the principle called lex specialis derogat generali to be applied. However, for the correct application of this principle it should be remembered that the Civil Code provisions are in some cases very detailed and that some provisions of the Civil...