On the issue of criminal law protection of cryopreserved human embryos

The world does not stand still. Rapidly developing technologies, on the one hand, clearly show the unpreparedness of society and law for such a rapid development of science and the level of interventions in the very essence of man, and on the other hand, the lag in legal science and practice in assessing and understanding human rights in this area. Human reproductive rights are a clear example of this. The growing trend in the field of assisted reproductive technologies towards cryopreservation of human embryos has exposed the problem of their proper legal protection, including by the forces of criminal law enforcement. The current gap in the criminal-legal assessment of encroachments aimed at preventing the emergence of a new life requires appropriate filling. And although such attacks do not directly harm a person’s life, since the latter is not yet born, they undoubtedly violate the constitutional rights of potential parents who want to give birth to a child. In this regard, the author proposes to introduce into the current criminal law a norm establishing liability for the deliberate destruction of human embryos intended for use in assisted reproductive technologies procedures, with the systematic placement of this norm in Chapter 19 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (Crimes against the constitutional rights and freedoms of man and citizen).