Definition
(1) Any person who carries out a scientific experiment on a human being shall be
sentenced to a penalty of imprisonment for a term of one to three years.
(2) The following conditions must be satisfied to avoid criminal culpability in respect of
consensual experimentation on a human being:
a) authorisation from the relevant council or body shall be received;
b) the experiment shall first be conducted in an experimental environment
(other than the human body) or on a sufficient number of animals,
c) the scientific data obtained through an experiment conducted in an
experimental environment (other than the human body), or on animals, should
necessitate the experiment then being performed on human beings in order to
attain its objectives,
d) the experiment should not forseeably damage, or have a permanent effect upon,
human health;
e) no method should be employed that might result in the test subject suffering to a
degree unacceptable to human dignity;
f) The objective of the experiment should outweigh any danger to the person’s
health or burden placed upon him; and
g) The consent of the test subject should be in writing and based on sufficient
information about the content and consequences of the experiment, and should
not be dependent upon securing any gain.
(3) (Amended on 31 March 2005 – By Article 7 of the Law no. 5328) In addition to the
conditions specified in paragraph two, the following conditions must be satisfied to avoid
criminal liability for the experimentation on children:
a) the scientific data obtained through an experiment that has been conducted in
an experimental environment should necessitate the experiment then being
performed on a child, in order to attain its objectives;
b) written consent of the mother and father, or legal guardian, and the consent of
the child, where he has the capacity to give consent; and
c) the presence of a child health and illness expert from an authorised body (which
has the capacity to give permission for the experiment).
(4) Any person who conducts a test upon a patient, for the purposes of medical treatment
(without receiving the patient’s consent), shall be sentenced to a penalty of
imprisonment for a term of up to one year. However, where it is understood that existing
methods of known treatment shall not yield any positive results, conducting an
experiment, while using known scientific methods, upon a person who has consented to
such, with the aim of treating such person, shall not incur criminal responsibility. The
consent should be in writing and be based on sufficient information about the content
and consequences of the experiment, and the medical treatment should be conducted
by an expert physician in a hospital.
(5) The provisions pertaining to intentional injury or intentional killing shall be applicable if
the victim is injured or dies due to the offence described in paragraph one.
(6) Any offence contained within this article that is carried out within the activities of a legal
entity shall result in security measure being imposed upon that legal entity.