Uruguay’s General Assembly has appointed the first members of a national commission that will advise public institutions on ethical questions involving health, scientific research, technology and the environment.
Legislators approved 15 full members and 15 alternates on 10 November, taking a further step towards establishing a body created by law in 2024. The commission is intended to work independently, and its reports and recommendations will be public and non-binding.
The Assembly approved the proposed list with the support of 106 of the 108 legislators present. It followed a selection process in which an eight-member committee examined 65 applications and reached unanimous agreement on the names put forward. The committee’s unanimous decision was separate from the subsequent parliamentary vote.
Those appointed must take up their functions within 45 calendar days of their designation. The appointments do not themselves constitute a recommendation on any particular medical treatment, technology or environmental issue.
A range of disciplines and perspectives
The full members are Marianela Barcia, Mariana Blengio, Juan Cristina, Victoria Della Ventura, Omar França, Álvaro Giordano, Marila Lázaro, Raúl Lombardi, Miguel Pastorino, Luis Eduardo Pedrozo, Gustavo Pereira, Adriana Peveroni, Cecilia Pintos, Maite Rodríguez and Delia María Sánchez.
The commission is required to be plural and multidisciplinary, with broad territorial representation, gender equity and non-discrimination. It envisages a range of perspectives, including those of scientists, health professionals, legal specialists, philosophers, theologians, social scientists, veterinarians, agricultural specialists and people without specialist training.
Members serve in a personal capacity and do not represent organisations that may have supported their applications. Their work is honorary, although the law allows for expenses under arrangements established by the Assembly. Members are appointed for five years and may be reappointed for one consecutive term.
The selection committee brought together representatives of the legislature, the executive and the judiciary, alongside representatives of public and private universities and the National Academy of Sciences. The process was designed to choose a group reflecting the requirements set out in the law, rather than a single professional discipline.
Advice without binding powers
Formally situated within the legislative branch, the commission is an independent, secular, pluralist and interdisciplinary advisory institution. It is not subject to a hierarchy and cannot receive instructions or orders from an authority. Its members are also required to act independently.
Its remit includes advising the branches of government and public bodies, preparing studies and examining ethical and social questions affecting human life, research, quality of life and the environment. It may respond to requests for advice or consider issues that it regards as relevant.
Potential subjects include genetic engineering, biotechnology and large volumes of data, as well as artificial intelligence, animal welfare and environmental protection. These are areas within the commission’s statutory remit, not a list of investigations it has already opened.
Its work can also include promoting public debate and education in bioethics. The commission may form subcommittees on specific subjects and invite outside experts and representatives of scientific, academic or civil society organisations to contribute.
Studies, advice and recommendations are non-binding: public authorities retain responsibility for their own decisions. The commission’s work must be disseminated publicly and published in the official gazette. It must also submit an annual report to the General Assembly.
From appointment to operation
The commission was created by a law promulgated on 20 December 2024 and published in January 2025. The period for submitting candidacies was later extended before the selection committee completed its work and sent its list to the Assembly.
At least ten members are required for the commission to meet, and it must adopt a publicly accessible internal rulebook. Those rules must address matters including meetings, notice and quorum. The legal framework also provides for links with existing health-care bioethics committees and international counterparts.
The parliamentary decision fills the commission’s membership; its first programme of work and any eventual recommendations remain for the commission itself to determine.
