Abstract
The chapter includes an overview of traditional and current ethical codes and basic rules of medical ethics with comments on why and in what aspects they are still valid and in what they are problematic. The chapter emphasizes the role of the European Charter of Medical Ethics adopted in 2001, which is still not well-known in the Czech Republic.
The author also explains the relationship between ethics and law (legislation). The Czech physicians as well as the public will be surprised at the well-founded statement that the Czech doctors have never sworn on the full text of Hippocrates oath.