ELBERTE v LATVIA: The To be or not to be question of Consent

'Informed consent' is essentially an ethical and legal practice and has long been the central theme in the discussions over tissue research. This commentary discusses the case of Elberte v Latvia (Application no 61243/08, January 2015) which is a new direction in consent for use of tissues in health research. However it has offered lesser clarity in different ways. The case considers the importance of consent and also requires that the close relatives be given a right to consent under certain circumstances. This poses two important questions which will be dealt with under this commentary, one the factual right of the relatives to offer consent for another and secondly the impact such consent may have on tissue research.