Resumen de Judicial Activism, the Biotech Directive and Its Institutional Implications: is the Court Acting as a Legislator or a Court when Defining the "Human Embryo"?

Andrea Faeh

• In December 2014 the Court again delivered a judgment in relation to the interpretation of the Biotech Directive (98/44). The decision in the International Stem Cell Corp case can be regarded as a refinement of the judgment in Brüstle v Greenpeace on the issue of the definition of "human embryo". The Court mainly reaffirms its previous judgment - this in itself is regrettable from an institutional perspective - and, further, the Court adjusts the definition in relation to non-fertilised human ova and confirms that there was a misperception of the Brüstle judgment. The article analyses both the Brüstle and the International Stem Cell cases in the light of the Court's judicial competence and sheds some light on the implication of the judgments for the future of human embryonic stem cell research.