Du statut juridique de l’embryon humain en droit libanais

Abstract

The legal status of the human embryo has not been specifically studied in Lebanon and is the subject of an uncertain regime resulting from scattered texts and very few court decisions. As the moment marking the beginning of human life remains debated, the recent issues relating to bioethics accompanying scientific advances, particularly in relation to reproductive medicine techniques and their corollaries, including surplus embryos, do not find clear-cut answers in Lebanese law. As scientific progress is at the heart of concerns relating to human life before birth, an abdication of legal experts in favour of doctors and ethics committees can been observed. This uncertainty is exacerbated by the physiognomy of Lebanese law, a typical example of legal pluralism in which communities traditionally compete with the legislator for legislative prerogatives in the field of “personal status”. Thus, the absence of the norm is coupled with uncertainty about its source. This study proposes an analysis of the available sources relating to the human embryo in utero and in vitro in order to clarify the position of Lebanese law with regard to the status of the embryo.