title: Research ethics committees and community values: Devlin, Dworkin, Hart and beyond.
abstract: Two fundamental requirements ought to be met in any selection to research ethics committees: (i) professional scientific competence, and (ii) the understanding of moral values which prevail in any community. The question is: Should the verdicts of research ethics committees be based on community values? This article critically examines theories of community as were propounded by Devlin, Dworkin and Hart in answer to this question. It is argued that community values are complementary rather than conflicting, and that Dworkin's theory of community provides an analytical framework for research ethics on the new genetic technologies. Finally, it is submitted that the verdicts of research ethics committees should be based on community values.
authors.affiliation: School of Law, Liverpool John Moores University, 98 Mount Pleasant, Liverpool, UK.
authors.forename: Solomon E
authors.initials: SE
authors.lastname: Salako
mesh_terms: D028744:Ethics Committees, Research / Q000592:standards*; D032984:Ethics, Research; D005818:Genetic Engineering / Q000941:ethics; D006801:Humans; D009014:Morals; D012111:Residence Characteristics; D012945:Social Values