Ethics committee

In research

An ethics committee in the European Union is a body responsible for oversight of medical or human research studies in EU member states. Local terms for a European ethics committee include:

• A Research Ethics Committee (REC) in the United Kingdom
• A Medical Research Ethics Committee (MREC) in the Netherlands.
• A Comités de Protection des Personnes (CPP) in France.

In the United States, an ethics committee is usually known as an Institutional Review Board, a committee dedicated to overseeing the rights and well-being of research subjects participating in scientific studies in the US.

In Australia, an ethics committee in medical research refers to a Human Research Ethics Committee (HREC).

Non-research context

In a non-research context, the term may refer to:

• The Canadian House of Commons Standing Committee on Access to Information, Privacy and Ethics
• United States House Committee on Standards of Official Conduct (popularly known as the "Ethics Committee")
• United States Senate Select Committee on Ethics