111. Moreover, the guarantee of the fundamental rights of the human being and
of the security of patients constitutes a fundamental principle in the provision of
health benefits. In this context, Article 5 of the law n° 91-63 of 29th July 1991
relative to health organization stipulates that « the public and private health
structures and institutions should function under conditions which guarantee:
1- the fundamental rights of the human being and the security of the patients
who seek their services;
2- respect for the rules of hygiene… ».
In effect all the health activities are carried out under the strict conditions of
respect for the physical and moral integrity of the patient.
112. Thus, the special preventive, curative or educative instructions and
measures, relating to each of the transmissible diseases provided for in the
context of the law n° 92-71 of 27th July 1992, cannot be prejudicial to the
fundamental rights and liberties of the persons to whom they refer (Article 4).
113. The physical integrity of the human being is also protected and guaranteed
in conformity with the provisions of Article 1 of the law n° 91-22 of 25th March
1991 relative to the removal and transplanting of human organs.
114. Furthermore, the Tunisian legislation provides that reproductive medicine
should be practiced within the context of guaranteeing the dignity of the human
being and protecting his physical integrity. Article 1 of the law n° 2001-93 of 7th
August 2001, relative to reproductive medicine stipulates that « reproductive
medicine is subjected to the provisions of the present law in the context of the
guarantee of the dignity of the human being and of the protection of his physical
integrity ».
According to the meaning of the present law, reproductive medicine extends to all
the medical acts entering within the context of medical assistance to procreation
and aimed at combating infertility.
Moreover, law n° 2001-93 of 7th August 2001 has prohibited genetic
manipulation, cloning, the trade in foetuses and human embryos.
Thus, this law controls the activating of life in the process of medically assisted
procreation in function with the bioethical rules so as to guarantee conformity with
human rights.
VII- The protection of human life through the amendment of
certain Articles of the Penal Code
115. Article 207 of the Penal Code stipulates that « murder committed by the
husband against the wife or the accomplice at the moment he surprises them in
the act of committing adultery shall be punished by 5 years of imprisonment ».
This Article used to grant the betrayed husband mitigating circumstances
considering the gravity of his wife’s behaviour. But the legislator intervened to
replace this Article by law n° 93-72 of 12th July 1993, amending and completing
certain Articles of the Penal Code with the objective of guaranteeing the right of
the human being to life by denying the betrayed husband this privilege at the
point of criminalization.
29