Anticipation under the Human Right to Science: Concepts, Stakes and Specificities

• Published in: The international journal of human rights 2023
• Main Author: Besson, Samantha
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Humanities and Social Sciences; Law
• ISSN: 1364-2987
• DOI: 10.2139/ssrn.4431685

Recent years have seen the emergence of dual-use technologies and, more generally, of scientific practices that are potentially beneficial to humanity, but that may also have an irreversible impact on human beings. In those circumstances, the issue of the adequate anticipation not only of the risks (of harm) of science, but also of its (opportunities for) benefits has become more pressing. One framework from which States may derive duties and responsibilities to anticipate both those 'risks' and 'benefits' of science is the human right to enjoy the benefits of scientific progress and to participate in that progress (in short, the 'human right to science'). Not only indeed does that right include everyone's right to participate in the scientific enterprise and its organisation and to access to and enjoy the benefits of scientific progress, but it also includes the right to be protected against the adverse effects of science. Interestingly, while some duties to anticipate grounded in the human right to science have been briefly mentioned in recent interpretations of the right, albeit not in those terms, their specific content, scope and bearers have not yet been addressed in depth. Nor has the tension between preventing the risks of science and promoting its benefits, created by their unique combination in the duties correlative to the human right to science, been clarified to date. Remedying this gap is the aim of this special issue and of its eight original contributions. This introduction explains the concepts, stakes and specificities of the human right to science in the context of anticipation of both the beneficial and adverse effects of science.