Bioethics law does not exist in Georgia as a separate statute — its codified core lies in the Law on Patients' Rights: the genetic block in Articles 31 to 34, and research consent in Article 26. Foreign bioethics frameworks are not the Georgian reference — the page is carried by the Georgian law.
The prohibition of genetic discrimination
Article 31 is the foundation of the block: discrimination against a person on grounds of genetic heritage is prohibited. This norm covers every sphere in which a decision about a person is taken — from employment to insurance — and the first test of bioethics law is precisely this prohibition: no decision may rest on genetic heritage.
The conditions of genetic testing
Article 32 defines testing: testing that reveals a disease-determining gene or determines a genetic predisposition to a disease is admissible only where its aim is the protection of the patient's health or scientific research connected with the protection of health. For any other aim — identification or classification, for instance — testing is inadmissible under the law, and this list is closed.
Gene modification and sex selection
Article 33 regulates the boundary of intervention: an intervention intended for the modification of a human gene is admissible only for the purposes of diagnosis, treatment or prevention and if it does not involve changing the genome of the patient's descendants. Article 34 gathers the sphere of artificial conception: the use of artificial conception methods for the purpose of sex selection is prohibited, except where the prevention of a sex-linked hereditary disease is necessary. Thus two clear boundaries of bioethics law are opened: the therapeutic aim and the inviolability of the descendants' genome; the choice of sex is prohibited, medical necessity is admitted.
Research consent
Article 26 regulates the research block: the informed consent of the patient is necessary for the patient's use as an object of study, and this consent precedes the use. Questions connected with patients in receipt of support and minor patients are regulated by a separate law. Consent is not necessary only in two cases: where information existing in the medical documentation is used for study purposes that gives no possibility of identifying the patient; or material received in the process of treatment and diagnosis whose anonymity is ensured. Anonymity is here the gateway of use — as long as identification is possible, consent is necessary.