ABSTRACT
Medical law was still described only a decade ago as a ‘comparatively young subject’.1 It is also a subject which is constantly forced into reactive mode by the speed of technological change in the biomedical sciences. Against this background, the potential impact of the Human Rights Act (HRA) 1998 on healthcare law is likely to remain a matter of speculation for the foreseeable future. The challenges posed by scientific developments in science and biomedicine will ensure that ethical and legal principles are regularly revisited, refined or rewritten anew. In particular, biomedical research has provided the focus of increased regulatory activity at European and international level.2
