1. Ethics and
Non-proliferation
Johannes Rath
University of Vienna, Austria
johannes.rath@univie.ac.at

2. OVERVIEW
1. Ethics and Civil Society
2. Ethics, Civil Society and Governance
 Medical Ethics Committees
3. Ethics, Civil Society, Governance and Non-proliferation
 European Commission (EC) Ethics Review and
Audit System for Research
4. Conclusions

3. 1. Ethics and Civil Society
Ethics - the virtue of doing things the
right way
Ethics – an important mechanism in
guiding civil society

4. 2. Ethics, Civil Society, Governance
Medical Ethics Committees
Institutionalized Ethics Oversight in Medicine
Helsinki Declaration, World Medical
Association
Global Relevance
Pharmaceutical and Medical Law build on
ethics oversight

5. 3. Ethics, Civil Society, Governance, Non-proliferation
EC Ethics Oversight
Since 2002 Ethics Review all EU financed
research (FP6, FP7)
Mandate includes Dual-use and refers to all
generally accepted international legislation
(e.g. BTWC)

6. 3. Ethics, Civil Society, Governance, Non-proliferation
EC Ethics Oversight
Experts from Civil Society
Multidisciplinary advisory panels
Systematic assessment
Recommendations included into the funding
contract as contractual obligations
Ethics audit of running projects to ensure
compliance

7. 3. Ethics, Civil Society, Governance, Non-proliferation
EC Ethics Oversight
Advantages:
Multidisciplinarity, Inclusiveness
The ability to solve problems before they
arise
Flexible, proportional and tailored solutions
Standard setting - above and in addition to
minimal legal requirements

8. 3. Ethics, Civil Society, Governance, Non-proliferation
EC Ethics Oversight
Challenges
Threshholds
Internationalization of R&D and
heterogenities of national legislations and
Codes of Conduct
Conflicting interests in knowledge
management

9. 3. Ethics, Civil Society, Governance, Non-proliferation
EC Ethics Oversight
Challenges
Lack of practical concepts with regard to early
risk mitigation and risk avoidance („Replace-
Refine-Reduce“?, „Security by Design“?)

10. 4. Conclusions
Ethics is more than a theoretical
framework of moral considerations
Civil Society has substantial experiences
in applying ethics as a governance tool for
practical issues.

11. 4. Conclusions
If ethics is all about doing things the right way,
there should be a place for it in Non-proliferation
and the implementation of UNSCR 1540.