Terms of Reference - Standing Committee on Ethics

Authority

CIHR By-Law - Article 5, sections 5.04 and 5.05.

Chair(s) and Membership

The Standing Committee on Ethics (SCE) consists of a Chair, who is a Governing Council member, plus a minimum of eight (8) members chosen by the Governing Council after receiving advice from its Governance and Nominating Committee. Membership on this committee includes persons who are not members of the Governing Council. Members will reflect a range of expertise. The President of CIHR is an ex-officio member.

Meetings

The Standing Committee will meet at least twice per year.

Terms

Members will normally be appointed to serve an initial term of three years, and may be re-appointed to a second term of one, two or three years. This will ensure, as far as possible, the expiry in any one-year of the terms of office of not more than one third of the members. Members can be appointed for no more than two consecutive terms.

Quorum

A majority of its members. Ex-officio members are not considered for quorum.

Reference

Bourinot's Rules of Order, 4th Edition.

Mandate

The SCE will identify for Governing Council emerging ethical issues of strategic relevance with respect to health and health research.

The SCE will provide the Governing Council with high-level strategic advice on the ethical, legal and socio-cultural dimensions of CIHR's mandate as set out in the CIHR Act, at its initiative or at the request of the Governing Council or the President, with specific regard to:

the exercise of ethics leadership
the development of ethically sound policies in health research
the development of the highest standards of ethics for CIHR and CIHR-funded research
the advancement of ethics research and training
the linking and bench marking of CIHR's ethics activities to community standards and other national and international organizations, standards and developments, to ensure that CIHR is at the forefront of excellence in these areas

Reporting

The SCE will report at each meeting of the Governing Council.

Evaluation

On an annual basis, a review of terms of reference and re-affirmation of membership.

Appointments

Approved at the 31st Meeting of the CIHR Governing Council held January 25, 2005.