Opposition Proposes A State Ethics Council

On Tuesday, Alþingi members from all opposition parties proposed a motion to establish of an independent State Ethics Council, to react to and review decisions and activities of any public body, as well as forward ethical points of view in public debates. The council would chose its subject matters autonomously. The motion’s first speaker is Katrín Jakobsdóttir, chair of the Left-Green Party. This was reported by Vísir.

The exposition attached to the proposal cites “swift developments in biology, genetics and medicine”, as well as the events which lead to the 2008 economic collapse, as examples of fields demanding the application of ethical points of view.

According to the commentary, such a council was founded in Denmark since artificial insemination in the country resulted in births for the first time, in 1984. The German ethics council (Deutscher Ethikrat) was established more recently, in 2007.

According to the proposal, the prime minister would appoint members of a team to prepare the establishment of the council.