ABSTRACT
This chapter reviews experimentation on human subjects by a research ethics committee is a political process as much as it is an ethical process. Research ethics committees around the world grew out of a concern to protect human research participants who are vulnerable to exploitation by researchers. Research ethics committees typically comprise members of staff from a research institution together with a few members from the community. The chapter argues that there is a need to change the basis of membership of research ethics committees to more adequately represent the interests of subjects. The people on whom research is conducted, the 'subjects of research', are not represented on research ethics committees as they are presently constituted. The issue of design deals with validity of research and the issue of risk and justification deals with the value of research. The chapter shows that representatives of subjects should also be properly qualified for their role and that they too need adequate support.
