Will the Human Clone be Recognized as an Actor of a Crime and as Its Victim?

Abstract

Cloning of various biological units has long been a reality of our time. But, starting with «Dolly the Sheep» — the first officially presented cloned organism, society thought about the achievability of the «final» result of genetic engineering — the appearance of a human clone. In the political and scientific circles of many states, including Russia, lively discussions unfolded about how justified the appearance of a clone, an exact biological (genetic) copy of a living or a dead person, is. Naturally, first of all, the ethical issues of cloning were discussed. But over time, the discussions turned into a legal channel. At the international and national levels, the position on the inadmissibility of human cloning has prevailed — at least at present. Such inadmissibility is associated with inevitable negative risks and possible abuses: the idea most often voiced was that a clone, who does not have the legal status of an «original person», will simply become a source of biological material for the reconstruction of the original organism. As a result, in many countries, including Russia, laws prohibiting cloning were introduced. Some states criminalized this act. We can, of course, have different attitudes towards the legislative ban on human cloning. However, the author is confident that this ban will be overcome and a human clone will be created. And then we will face a new reality: what might the legal status of a human clone be? Can we accept a clone as a subject legally equal to a person born naturally? Based on the results of modern research in the field of genetic engineering and psychology, the author comes to the key conclusion that a human clone should be considered an independent personality on a par with the «original person». In turn, a human clone should be regarded as a possible subject of crime and a victim of crime (naturally, subject to all the conditions and requirements for ordinary people).