“基因编辑婴儿”人体试验中的法律责任——基于中国现行法律框架的解释学分析

Legalliability in the human trial of baby gene-editing:A hermeneutic analysis based on China’s current legal framework

世界首例“基因编辑婴儿”非法人体试验的发生,引发了国际范围内的普遍不安和强烈谴责。应在现行法律框架下对“基因编辑婴儿”事件中的试验人员(以及其他有关“涉事人员和机构”)的法律责任予以确认和执行。我国现行法律(狭义)并无人类基因编辑人体试验的专门规范,在整体法秩序上存在明显的法律漏洞。行政规章中规定了一些行政责任,但处罚力度相对较轻,对个人私自进行非法试验行为的针对性不足。在刑法上没有直接应对基因编辑、人体试验等生物技术犯罪的条款,如不能在解释上把“基因编辑婴儿”人体试验纳入“情节严重”的“非法行医”的范畴,则对该非法试验行为的刑事责任的落实将面临困境。在民事责任方面,试验参与者(受试者)及“基因编辑婴儿”(和“基因编辑胎儿”)享有损害赔偿请求权,但有关损害的认定和评价存在规范上的困难。未来“要加快科技安全预警监测体系建设”,在基因编辑领域“加快推进相关立法工作”,通过专门的法律规范以形成完善的责任机制,尤其要适度增强公法上责任的刚性,具体明确私法上的请求权基础。

The illegal human experimentation,which created the world’s first gene-edited babies,has triggered unrest and strongly condemns around the world. Based on the existing legal framework,experimenters (as well as other relevant “involved persons and institutions”) in the event of “gene-edited babies” should bear legal liabilities. In China’s current law (narrow sense),there is no specific legal norm on human genetic editing experiments,so there are obvious loopholes in the overall legal order. Some administrative responsibilities are stipulated in administrative regulations,but the punishment is not rigorous,and the pertinence to individual behavior of conducting illegal experiments is insufficient. In criminal law,there are no clauses to directly deal with biotechnology crimes like gene editing and human experimentation. If the illegal human experimentation of “gene-edited babies” cannot be brought into the scope of “illegal practice of medicine” with circumstances of aggravation in explanation,the implementation of criminal responsibility for the behavior of illegal experiment will be in dilemma. In terms of civil liability,participates and “gene-edited babies”(and “gene-edited fetuses”) possess the right to claim damages,but there are normative difficulties in the identification and evaluation of damage. In the future,China should “accelerate the construction of early-warning and monitoring system for scientific and technological safety”,“expedite and promote relevant legislation in the field of gene editing”,and adopt specialized legal norms to form a consummate responsibility mechanism,especially in moderately strengthening the rigidity of responsibility in public law and specifically clarifying the claim basis in private law.