Information Note on the Court’s case-law No. 164
June 2013
Parrillo v. Italy (dec.) - 46470/11
Decision 28.5.2013 [Section II]
Article 1 of Protocol No. 1
Article 1 para. 1 of Protocol No. 1
Possessions
Ban on donating embryos for scientific research: communicated
In 2002 the applicant and her partner had recourse to medically assisted procreation techniques and five embryos were produced. In November 2003 the applicant’s partner died. The applicant wishes to donate the in vitro embryos to assist scientific research into ways of curing diseases that are difficult to treat. However, section 13 of Law no. 40 of 19 February 2004 prohibits experiments on human embryos, even for the purposes of scientific research, making any such offence punishable by a sentence of between two and six years’ imprisonment. The applicant submits that the embryos in question were created prior to the entry into force of the above-mentioned Law, and that it was therefore entirely legal for her to store the embryos by means of cryopreservation without having them implanted immediately.
Notice of the application was given under Article 1 of Protocol No. 1, in respect of the applicant’s complaint that Law no. 40/2004 prohibited her from donating her embryos for scientific research, obliging her to keep them in a state of cryopreservation until they were no longer viable; and under Article 8, in respect of her complaint that such interference infringed her right to respect for her private life.
The application was also inadmissible ratione materiae under Article 10, since the applicant’s complaint – that the prohibition of embryo donation amounted to a breach of freedom of expression, a fundamental aspect of which was freedom of scientific research – concerned a right which was not vested in her directly, but rather in those operating in the sector in question, namely researchers and scientists.
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This summary by the Registry does not bind the Court.
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