ABSTRACT
In most countries the main role of Research Ethics Committee (REC) is to approve or reject biomedical research projects based on an ethical analysis of the research protocol. Three possible functions for RECs that have not received as thorough a consideration in the literature as their role in approving research and making sure that informed consent is obtained and documented. These three roles are: democratic legitimation of research; approval of research projects in cases where consent cannot be obtained; and monitoring of the compliance with approved protocols. This chapter examines the possible justification for extending the roles of RECs to these three areas, and at how this could be done. The RECs probably have only a minor role to play in explaining the general goals of biomedical research to the public, but they do have potentially very important roles to play with regard to the social acceptance of the goals of specific projects and the conduct of research.
